


Failure to Thrive

by Spiralled_Fury



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Aaravos Being a Little Shit (The Dragon Prince), Abusive Parents, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Author Is Sleep Deprived, BAMF Callum (The Dragon Prince), BAMF Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Bad Parent Viren (The Dragon Prince), Callum is Protective of Ezran (The Dragon Prince), Dragons, Dubious Ethics, Established Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Evil Viren (The Dragon Prince), Fuck yes I get to write sick ass dragons, I write fucked up discordant shit again, Im a college student now fuck u, King Ezran (The Dragon Prince), Multi, Necromancer Claudia (The Dragon Prince), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Poor Life Choices, Post-Season/Series 03, Rayla Swears (The Dragon Prince), The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Dragon Prince Spoilers, Time Skips, Zubeia is a good mom (The Dragon Prince), he trips sometimes, occasionally, sorta - Freeform, whoops look at me creating tags again
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-04-25 11:34:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22299958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spiralled_Fury/pseuds/Spiralled_Fury
Summary: Four months.Four months and everything is going well. Four months and they're alive, Zym is growing, the world is rebuilding. He is proud.The world will return stronger than it ever was before, and they will build again. New alliances, new life, new hope.. . .Four months.Four months and she has lost everything that she ever earned. Four months and she is dying of something that was used to bring others back.But ebony wings that push from a dead egg... those will save humanity from being completely destroyed.
Relationships: Amaya & Janai (The Dragon Prince), Amaya/Janai (The Dragon Prince), Callum & Ezran & Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Callum & Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 90





	1. In the Summer Silence (I was Getting Violent)

**Author's Note:**

> Me, dying for months:
> 
> Me, with 2 other fanfics to be working on: 
> 
> Me, struggling hopelessly at school:
> 
> Also me, holding up this trashfire: Hey yall wanna meet my new muse?
> 
> This started as a poke to write about a dark dragon for The Dragon Prince, intended to be a 2000~ abstract, but it's become this. God save me. 
> 
> This one will probably update very slow thanks to my fucking life, and I want to do very long chapters (and make the chaptercount lower) so ye. Thanks fellas. 
> 
> Chapter song is Mama's Gun by Glass Animals.
> 
> If u liked it drop me a kudo, comments give me a reason to exist as a non-immortal space being.

Betrayal was a lot like a cold wind. 

It seemed like it was refreshing at first, all free and beautiful, then it bit in it’s teeth and didn’t let go, shredding skin as it ripped deeper into your body, going to tear apart every last piece of heat in your body.

Claudia could recognize that, where she was standing. After all, nearly two weeks out of Soren’s... betrayal, and she could barely stay on her feet. It was exhausting to take care of both beings now under her strength for their lives.

The filthy cocoon had shredded open three days ago. The strange, alien elf that came out had yet to earn her trust or stay awake for longer than four hours. Apparently, he had emerged early. 

And Viren was... 

She wanted to scream at him for his stupidity, for trusting some elf in a mirror, for leading him to his doom, but it wasn’t his doom. She had saved him, so it was all ok now. 

Maybe. 

That didn’t matter while she was gathering food for all of them, because Viren could barely lift his upper body without strain, and the elf wasn’t staying awake for long periods. 

He had given his name, Aaravos, and explained that Viren had already used much of his life force in service of dark magic. 

“The best resurrection is always that which has time to grow.” He had smiled to her mysteriously, voice like the rumble of an erupting volcano. 

She rolled her eyes at him, told him to stay on the other side of the fire, and then went out to get food. Which was where she was now, busy picking what she hoped weren’t poisonous berries. Aaravos had explained to her where she could find berries that were best for human consumption, and she had to rely on that. After all, it wasn’t like she knew anything about this place.

Rolling her shoulders out, Claudia got to her feet with a sigh, glancing about the sun-dappled forest for anything out of the ordinary. Being on edge for two weeks was starting to wear on her psyche, needing more than keeping watch. Exhaustion and a headache brewed in her skull, reminding her of how much magic she had used in the last two weeks just by how the strain was still effecting her. Regardless, she was confident that-

“Whoa!”

Only instinct and quick movement kept her from squishing the makeshift basket of berries as she fell to the forest floor, jarring bones that felt too brittle for the impact. A half-exasperated, half-pained groan filled her lungs as she pushed up, glancing back to see what she had tripped on. 

An... oddly smooth stone.

Orange-red and shimmering like the outside was covered in the smallest and most perfect mosaic, but at the same time, strangely dull and lifeless in tone. 

Without even knowing what she was doing, she reached out a hand and brushed the edge of the stone, blinking in surprise.

The river was far away, not close enough to smooth the stone to the unnatural level it was, feeling almost soft under her fingers. It was both glass, and the softest substance she had ever touched. 

Curious, she placed her berries aside and started freely scraping the dirt away with her hands, thanking whatever was looking down on her blackened soul that the earth here was loose.

Until she realized, it wasn’t a stone. Too wide, too round, she recognized this substance.

Her digging grew frantic. She had to bring this back to the cave.

* * *

“Hello Claudia.” 

The elf was on his feet, that was good, she decided. Even leaned on the wall, him standing was a good sign. Her father’s sleeping form was curled in the back section of the newest cave, far away from the battlefield of their defeat. From the battlefield of...

“Aaravos.” She said, shaking off the memories. Pulling the object of interest around the entrance, she rolled it toward him carefully. “...What is this?” She demanded softly.

There was silence for a moment as the elf’s eyes went wide and stunned, yellow gaze reflecting the dying flames of a fire that needed to be relit, and the soft, subtle glimmer of the thing on the ground. 

“...Where did you find this?” The question came out stunningly soft as the elf brushed his knuckles across the surface, observing the silent gleam beneath his star-dusted hands.

Shrugging one shoulder, Claudia gestured to the world outside the cave. “Down in the woods, buried. Looks like it had been there for a few years.”

One long, pointed ear was laid across the soft, silent egg, even if Claudia already knew what he would say. 

“...It’s dead.” He murmured, sitting back a bit. “Has been for a while.”

“Why hasn’t it...” Claudia nodded wordlessly at the still-intact, otherwise perfect egg. 

Glancing up at her, Aaravos filled in the missing pieces. “Decayed? Dragon eggs don’t. They can be destroyed, stomped to pieces... but left intact, they never decay.” He stated, rubbing the surface smooth with his hand. “...Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“The baby’s dead?” She asked again, kneeling next to him and placing a hand on the egg as well. 

“Oh, probably for years. Sun dragons are one of the most prolific kinds, roaming across Xadia. Sometimes, eggs get abandoned.” With a minute shrug, he turned and continued examining the egg. “This one’s interesting though. I’ve never seen one with this-“

At his cut-off, Claudia glanced up, meeting the crisp, yellow-tone eyes. 

“...Archdragon.” He murmured, gaze carrying a curious, mysterious weight. “An Archdragon laid this egg.” 

Claudia stared at the darkened, glimmering depths of the egg for a moment longer, then snatched it away from Aaravos protectively. Yet, all the same, she couldn’t bring herself to take the egg and flee from him, to not let him touch her prize.

He, however, took that as his fair warning, and got up to leave.

“...What are...” Claudia spoke up, hearing his footsteps pause before she continued. “...What are the limits of... resurrection?”

There was a moment of silence and hesitation on his part as well, before he turned to face her. “Well, that is a difficult question.” He said coolly, looking down. “I’ve never encountered resurrection outside of plants before.” The admission made her blink in surprise. “...You very well may be the first necromancer to exist outside of theories.”

A blow to the chest wouldn’t’ve had the same impact the words did, her eyes wide and stunned. “But... I-“

“Am a very talented dark mage.” The elf informed with a slow, easy smile. “Why do you ask about the limits?”

She glanced at the egg, wondering if she could stare hard enough to see the dead dragon within. 

“...You said that... things need time to grow.” The quote came close to what he said, but he got the gist of it anyway, nodding along. “...So... elves have a dragon for each part of primal magic, right?” She asked.

He nodded again, staring at her with a slowly-growing smile. “Yes..?”

“...Well... humans need a dragon too.” She decided with a dark rumble, laying one hand over the top of the egg. “Don’t they?”

She could hear the smirk in his voice when he knelt beside her. “...They do.” He purred out, settling his thin, stardusted hands beside hers. “They do indeed.”

* * *

_ ...It's me in the mirror. _

* * *

_ “...done it..! My word, you’ve...” _

_ The world slipped out of his grasp, lost to the everreaching darkness that enshrouded him. It was cold. So cold, too cold.  _

_ He squirmed in the minimal space he had, one foot pressing against the shell that wrapped him tightly together, his wings shoving a bit against the edges.  _

_ And then fire, blessed fire, ran against the side of his shell. He leaned into it with a desperate noise, needing it, needing the heat.  _

_ Then his body was moved into a new position, his tail pressed slightly into the bottom of the shell, before warmth fully surrounded him _

_ There were wordless noises outside, but he didn’t care to process them.  _

_ He was warm now. Nothing else mattered.  _

* * *

_Four months, and the Boy with Wings..._

* * *

Sunrise may not have been exactly an appropriate favourite time for a Moonshadow elf, but it was always a beautiful period atop the Storm Spire, that much Rayla was certain of. The air was always clear, standing above even the clouds. 

With her feet dangling off the same place she had fallen from. It was freeing in a strange way, to be so close to falling, but knowing that she never would under her own power.

She wondered, vaguely, if she had grown up atop this mountain, how she would feel about below. It was silent, brilliant, isolated from everything in so many ways. Being at the base of the mountain sometimes felt strange, heavy and thick when she breathed, but she didn’t really care. After all, it was beautiful up here. 

Close to the moon, close to the sky, close to the stars...

And close to the person on bronze-brown wings, golden light streaking off the smooth, seamless feathers that lined his limbs. 

A pair of slightly longer, slightly wider wings flew nearby, calling occasional suggestions that Rayla couldn’t hear. The wind was too strong and the people too distant for her to make out the words, but when Callum adjusted how he was flapping, she smiled. 

She, the last Dragonguard. He, the newest, and the first true human mage. 

Freed, from history’s grasp, at last. Admittedly, there was still much to do, old fears to quell and horrors to pay for, but for now, the world went on without hesitation. Like everything, and nothing, had changed all at once.

A squeaking, high cry that did it’s best approximation of a roar came beside her, almost making her flinch if she didn’t know exactly who’s cry that was.

“Hey Zym!”

The dragon’s bright eyes turned on her with a purring bark, trying to make his voice lower and failing again.

He had been getting steadily bigger with what a dragon called ‘proper food’. Zubeia had thanked them profusely - nearly every morning - for her son, but apparently they hadn’t been feeding him worth a damn.

Moonberries could only go so far for a creature with teeth meant for biting through bone and flesh.

Compared to the raw, elegant grace of his mother or even the power and steadiness of a dragon like Pyrrah, Zym was small and still carried most of his baby fat, clumsy as if he was newly hatched, just... larger. 

His shoulder came up to her hip now, head just below her ribs. Far too big to carry, but just as sweet.

He made a trill toward the sky, leaning out over the edge to watch Callum and Ibis.

“What, you want to join them?” She asked with a grin, patting the dragon’s shoulder. With a shadowpaw pup-like whine, he leaned over the edge. “Go then!”

Silvery-blue scales flashing, Zym spread strong wings and leapt off the spire with a cry, shooting between the two other fliers. The pair shot apart, laughing as he spun to the side. According to Zubeia, he flew much faster and more skillfully than any other young dragon of his age.

With a beat of copper-earth wings, Callum landed on the edge next to her, windswept hair and rose-tinted skin glowing with the same grin that made him so perfectly handsome. 

“Well, aren’t you looking pleased?” 

Callum’s smile was as bright as the full moon on a clear night, nodding as he pulled his arms in. “Volantis, pluma, manus.” He murmured, feathers receding into his arms, sigils of elven warrior paint tattooed into his muscular arms. “I am so pleased.” He giggled a bit. 

She couldn’t help but smile back, contagious joy leaping through her chest at his exuberance. Even if he always crawled into their room drop-dead exhausted after magic practice every day, and woke her up (albeit unintentionally) every morning at the ass-crack of dawn, seeing this Callum, free and untethered, was so worth it.

“Good to hear.” She murmured back, pulling him into a kiss. He tasted like sky and cold, clear air and sunlight. It was her favourite, always wanting more. She’d never get bored with her human mage, loud and brazen and so, so good.

Nearby, some interrupter cleared their throat, and Rayla decided to use one of those brazen human things. 

She raised the middle finger to whoever dared interrupt, only for Callum to make a squeak of alarm and pull her arm down as he broke off. 

“‘ey!”

“I’m so sorry for her, Ibis!”

The Skywing sighed softly, rolling his eyes a bit with a patient smile. “I should know better than to interrupt.” He chuckled, before turning and walking down the steps. “Keep an eye on Zym.” The instruction was an afterthought - as if Rayla would ever let that little dragon do something dumb under her sight - as he vanished from sight. 

“...Sounds like we’ve got some free time.” She purred with a soft look.

“We do.” Callum held her hand as they sat back on the edge, two dragonguards and their charge, dipping his wings into the clouds with the same joyous abandon he took in everything.

* * *

_The Silent Stone..._

* * *

Amaya knew hot. 

Black stones baking in the sunlight were hot. The Breach was hot. Hell was hot. 

But despite what Gren insisted, Lux Aurea was not hot. 

The place constantly radiated a soft, diffuse warmth, like the sun on a sweet day, blowing wind into her face, the scent of flowers and cut grass somewhere nearby. 

It was a beautiful place, even when filled with the strange shadows of darkened sunlight, not unlike an odd, twisted eclipse. Their best mages were working to purify the light, but it was slow going. Without their head mage or Sunstaff, the process to fix the Sun Forge was a hard activity. 

Never mind burying the dead, repairing the city after it had been attacked, checking on other elf towns and cities that may have been trampled by the impending doom of a thousand creatures of pure fire and dark magic

She just wished that Janai looked less exhausted all the time. 

Moving through the city streets with Kazi to oversee the human assistance in clearing debris was brilliant. Lux Aurea never ceased to amaze, that was certain. 

‘I think we should return to the castle soon.’ Kazi signed to her with a smile as they stepped out of the way of an elf carrying a sack of debris. 

‘Sure.’ Amaya replied, then turned and led them back toward the city centre, and it’s palace. Despite the fact that the young translator knew far more about the city than she, Amaya had learned her way around quickly, especially when she had to help Gren arrange the elf builders that were returning with him to the border. 

The rulers of (some of) the human kingdoms had agreed with the elves on several points, but one of the biggest was that - to begin repairing the scar left between their worlds - they had to find a way to pass between the worlds more easily. 

Many elves and humans had been highly resistant to this, but with reassurances that humans wouldn’t kill magical entities for parts, and elves wouldn’t threaten the inhabitants of the kingdoms. 

Which was why Gren was there, on what had been the breach, to build a bridge that would be the start in healing wounds between them.

She informed Janai that she trusted no one more with the task of guarding the bridge than Gren. 

Meanwhile, she was in charge of bridging the gap between the respect of the two peoples. They had earned her respect, and her theirs, in the battle where they stood as one. 

And Janai kept her around, so that had to be worth something.

She was pleased with what she had accomplished, and would continue to accomplish among the elves. Proud and happy. She couldn’t wait for her nephews to come to Lux Aurea again, to see them both as they grew. 

To see Ezran as king of Katolis, and Callum as a Dragonguard.

_I did my best, Sarai, to encourage these boys._ She thought, directing it to the powerful statue in Katolis, and hoped that her sister could hear everything her boys had done for this world. 

* * *

“Hello.” Janai smiled slightly as she came from the palace steps, walking to Amaya before she could get to the entranceway. “How is the construction going?”

‘So far, so good.’ Amaya signed in response. ‘The messengers are coming in soon, right?’

For longer sentences, Kazi still had to translate, but Janai was learning quickly how to interpret Katolian sign language. 

Once Janai had deciphered what she was saying, she nodded. “Yes, so come inside.” She stated. “We should be receiving information from Katolis today.”

Amaya smiled at that. Katolis meant that it was probably Ezran sending letters, the young king hard at work to repair the damage that the other kingdoms had caused to the various armies. 

The half-fire beasts were in the dungeons of Lux Aurea, the only place strong enough to hold them for the time being, to provide clothes and metal that could resist burning and raging flames while they were working on a way to fix the humans trapped within the mindless animals they had faced. 

Almost to the door, and Amaya noticed Janai’s ear tip back a second before they both turned around, catching sight of a young Earthblood elf running toward them.

While Amaya hadn’t met many other types of elves, her opinion of Earthblood elves was that they were stunningly brilliant people, light and easy on their feet, free as the birds of the forest.

But from the panic in his gaze and the speed in his run, there was something that called for urgency, not grace. 

“Please, Queen Janai!” The young man called, pale blue-teal eyes wide with panic. “There’s something attacking our camp!”

Amaya was instantly on alert. The Earthblood elves were peaceful people, a little over half of their civilization being wanderers in small groups across Xadia. If anything attacked the Earthblood elves, there was something afoot. All they were currently doing was helping the burned forest recover, their natural connection to the land aiding massively in such an endeavour. 

Janai turned to Amaya. “Could that be Viren?” She asked, gaze narrowed and dark. 

Nodding sharply, Amaya turned and darted inside, going to get her armour quickly. Janai paused only to gesture and shout, before running after Amaya for her armour.

The impact on the floor behind her announced the arrival of Amatikatis, the Twin-Tailed Inferno-Toothed Tiger. 

Amaya just referred to him as Mattie. He seemed to know the hand sign for his own name after only days, so she found that quite useful. He was a playful thing, warm like a blanket and so soft. 

Getting on armour was something that she had always been good at, and every person in the room was a soldier, eyes sharp and strong, moving as though one entity while they pulled on their armour. 

She belted in the armplate as the last piece, turning to Janai as the other pulled her chestpiece on all the way. “Are you ready to go?” She asked, tipping her head upward a bit. 

‘Let’s go see who’s bothering the Earthblood elves.’ Amaya smirked softly, using the Xadian sign for the elves and making Janai smile. 

She slid onto Mattie’s back first, the beast’s purr at her presence causing his entire body to vibrate slightly. With a feline grin, his head tipped up to tempt her to pet him, ears perky and tails lifted.

With a smile, Amaya obliged his demands for love even as Janai hopped onto him as well, racing to the front where the other warriors were readying their own mounts.

She raised her blade as an order to head out, leading the other Sunfire elves through the woods, toward the nearby Earthblood elf settlement. Mattie had to run to allow the others to keep pace as the Feathered Sun-Painted Cats most knights rode being a smaller and non-flying species, but no less elegant. 

The trees blurred slightly as Amaya held tight to Mattie’s mane, the cat’s wings occasionally lifting like he was going to take off, the sensation of his muscles rippling under the thick coat reminding her exactly how powerful he was. 

Getting into the flow of working as a diplomat in Lux Aurea was a special experience, but she liked to think she was doing well with it, going in at the forefront of a group of elves, to defend other elves.

But then she caught the scent of fire and ash, the sight of smoke that wreathed between clear, emerald leaves, and all thoughts of mild pride at the growing peace flew from her mind. 

The troop pulled up sharply as they came to the clearing of elves, the destruction evident before they had fully stepped inside. 

Fires trampled and rocks displaced, Earthblood elves with shortstaves and small blades trying to usher their kinsmen out of the clearing, to get to safety. Pale green tents burned with angry, clinging flames that consumed the fabric like starving wolves. 

Amaya raised her arm, gestured for one group to split off and head toward the escaping non-combatants. _Get these people to safety!_ She thought as Janai called out something against her back, before sliding off Mattie to the dirt.

She darted into the middle of the camp, guiding some others out of the way, around the flames and toward the escape route, going to check the few unburned tents for people trapped inside. 

And then a boy (he looked like Callum for a frightening moment) came crashing through the woods nearby, tripping and scrambling backward as best he could, away from the trees. 

His eyes were wide in abject panic, trying to escape something that Amaya couldn’t see even as she ran toward him, going to get him off the ground and away from whatever threat he was looking at.

Before the creature came through the woods.

Indigo-black hide gleamed like hot tar in the light of the afternoon sun, ivory fangs wide and poised to crush the elf’s defending arm as he cowered. Elegant, sharp wings spread in a predatory action to hood the beast’s kill, defend it. Limbs that were oddly long and thin for it’s size, like it was growing too fast to keep up.

Vicious and odd as it was, it’s shape was strangely familiar.

And then she pulled back her arm and slapped the creature’s head as hard as she could with her shield. 

The horn-crowned head snapped to the side with discordant beats of of surprised wings, it’s paw that had been raised to kill slamming back on the ground to support the unexpected hit.

In the same action, Amaya grabbed the boy and tossed him out of the way, not wanting him to get hit in this battle while the creature was recovering.

And then the eyes snapped to meet hers, and she realized exactly what she was looking at. 

Bright, hard amber, gaze narrowed to vicious, almost alien slits, and glazed with something strange and grey. As though the creature had a film over it’s eyes, stagnant swamp water on an orange pond. 

The shape of it’s lean, underweight body and knife-sharp teeth reminded her of the dragon named Pyrrah, just... smaller. 

It lunged like a snapped bowstring, going to bite her instead of the boy. She brought up her arm, the hard, metal bracer taking the teeth as she planted her feet against the heavy hit.

The creature made a rippling growl that ran up through her arm, vibrating her armour as it’s neck tried to twist, tried to rip her shoulder clean off.

Clearly, it was used to taking on elves without armour or the willingness to brace, because she pulled it a little closer to her body, brought back her shield, and punched it in the jaw. 

It hit the ground heavily, shoving up again quickly, but she drove it to the ground with another swift hit, slamming her shield onto it’s neck and shoulders before standing on it. 

Wings and claws flailed as it tried to twist it’s head to grab her, jaws snapping powerfully. She could feel every rush of wind those bites made against her outfit, every twitch of raw anger, trying to claw at her frantically. 

But she couldn’t feel it’s breath. 

The creature’s breathing was minimal, little more than a weighty twitch in it’s chest. 

And then another pair of hands landed on the creature’s wing, forcing it inward as it twisted and squirmed, trying to get away, escape.

Amaya turned away from it to watch Janai speak, and for a split second, really despised being deaf.

Her entire body was jarred as the creature wrenched the shield to the side, pulling her completely off it and coming up with mouth already open and wings flaring again, slashing at Janai with reckless abandon.

She kept trying to say something, but it was too discordant for Amaya to fully make out as the beast charged her repeatedly, snapping and clawing. 

Her sword wasn’t out, just hands in a placating, slow manner as she dodged the thing’s lunges, trying to speak with it.

Until Amaya spotted the glow of something under ebony neck scales, a slow building power, energy stewing in the creature’s gullet, it’s jaws splitting open and aiming at Janai, still trying to reason with it. 

Because dragons were normally such reasonable creatures, weren’t they?

Amaya dropped the shield and leapt at it, catching the thing in a headlock and shoving it’s jaws shut. The impact of the blast came a second later, ripping through both her and the dragon as the creature tumbled backward with a cough of smoke, Amaya forced to let go by the backlash. 

The dragon (it was a dragon, definitely), opened it’s mouth with heaving motions, black-orange flames lapping out of it’s jaw as it coughed and spat up the half-aborted blast of fire. It’s claws gripped the dirt as it seemed like it was throwing up whatever was inside, gasping for clear air.

Janai shot past Amaya, followed by several other elves, as they tried to pounce for the beast. Weakened by the backlash of the blast, the dragon slid backward with it’s mouth open in a snarl-roar. It’s glazed eyes slid over the elves slowly surrounding it, head lowering close to the ground. 

Then, it abruptly spun to it’s left, kicking the smallest elf out of the way and slipping between the others, taking off with a swift leap, heading over the woods quickly.

Before anyone could chase it, it dove into the woods, and sight was lost.

It was only then that it really hit Amaya of how small the dragon was. 

Pyrrah was big enough to take out a town. Other dragons she had seen were all large and imposing. Even the Dragon Queen... Amaya didn’t even want to think about that. 

But that one’s head had barely cleared her own. Mattie would’ve dwarfed it, for God’s sake, and while he was big, most dragons were massive next to him. 

A hand landed on Amaya’s shoulder, jolting out of her reverie of the fleeing dragon. 

‘What was that?’ She signed slowly, so Janai could catch every motion. 

“...A young dragon.” The elf replied after a moment. “He was unhealthy, starving, it seemed. Strange colouration.” She stated, following Amaya’s previous gaze into the woods. 

Amaya paused, considering that and her previous knowledge of dragons. She recognized the crown of horns on his head, very similar in layout to the Sun dragons.

‘He looked like Pyrrah.’ She spelled out the name to Janai carefully. 

Janai studied her hands, then mouthed the letters subtly before nodding. “Yes, he did look like Pyrrah. Very agile.” She commented, before her head dipped a bit with a confused scowl. “...He refused to even acknowledge that I was speaking.” The furrowed brow made it seem a beaten-down, uneasy tone. 

‘Didn’t seem like he wanted to talk.’ Amaya signed with a chuckle to herself, then nodded to the other few elves. ‘Was he the only thing?’ She asked Janai.

A moment’s hesitation, then, “So far. We have located nothing but him, and all the damage seems to have been caused by him.”

‘Good. Let’s get the Earthblood elves away from here.’ She said, and while she signed a little fast, Janai got the implication. 

_And send a message to Callum._ She thought as they led the nomadic elves away, closer toward the river and away from the chaos that the young dragon had left. _I need to ask him what kind of dragon spits this type of fire._

Then she paused, examining one of the burned tents, holes formed by strange, black fire. 

She pulled it off it’s struts, folding the fabric carefully, and tucking it close to her chest. Someone had to have hard evidence of this attack, and she got it.


	2. Or the Moment of Truth in your Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Searching, seeking, fleeing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me a few days ago: damn this one feels short, I should probably write more.
> 
> Me, going to post this: Holy fuck how long did I write this one???
> 
> Chapter title is from Iris from the Goo Goo Dolls.

* * *

_ Not right, but also not wrong. _

* * *

  
  
_The outside world, when he emerged from his shell, was bright and loud and disturbing. He opened his muzzle to squall the instant that the cold air hit undefended skin. Where was his warm-spot?! This was not right!_

_ And then a strange voice spoke. One he had heard before, safely within his shell. “Amazing...” It whispered, and then a warm, blessedly warm entity pressed what seemed like a clawless paw to his face. He leaned into it with a trill, squirming free of the egg to the hard, unforgiving ground. _

_ When he squealed at that, a slightly scratchy thing lay across him. A wing, perhaps, as those same paws bundled him tightly, pulling him close to a lean chest. _

_ His mother was small. Young, perhaps, but strong. He could feel it in her forelimbs, wrapping around her wing to give support to his form. “Look at you... so shiny.” She said, then seemed to giggle a moment. Even if the words had no meaning, he could tell they were meant to be some sort of... communication. _

_ It sounded so unnatural to what his instincts told him... but perhaps his instincts were wrong. _

_ What felt like a dry tongue assaulted his face to try and clean off the fluid from his egg. “He seems healthy, Claudia. Congratulations, you’ve hatched a dark dragon.” Another voice said. _

_ Claw. Was that her name? Was that his mother’s name? _

_ She was pale, her face smooth and soft, with half-dark fur and wide eyes. Something in his brain said she wasn’t quite right. The other part said she was his mother, end of story. _

_ “You stay over there.” Claw told the new voice, a strange scent but one he remembered. Was that his father? “Go harvest more spiders or whatever.” _

_ Hazy eyes flicked toward the voice, taking note of the blue-purple colours and spots on his scales, clear and white. He looked soft, shiny. _

_ “Claudia, all the collection for the day is complete. It is just him who remains. Would you have me do anything?” Shine’s voice was deep and low, stable and calm. _

_ Claw’s face turned down, pointing at him as she looked down her short muzzle to his. _

_ “...keep Viren away from him.” She ordered Shine. _

_ The other’s dark eyes flicked a bit to the dark side of their den, then slowly nodded. “May I inquire why?” _

_ Claw’s muzzle twisted with a dull growl in her chest. “...No.” _

_ That got Shine to simply dip his head, respectful and neat, before he got to his paws and moved away, giving his mate space that she desired. _

* * *

_The Boy with the Heart of Sky._

* * *

“Ah, Callum? You awake, buddy?” 

Callum’s eyes snapped open as he lost focus on the wind that sang past his ears, chilled his skin and made his heart speed up from the steady thrum he had. 

Taking a deep breath, trying to bring his thoughts up to speed coming out of meditation. “...I wasn’t asleep.” He said slowly, and even he admitted that the stretch and yawn he did next wasn’t convincing to his argument. “What’s up?” 

“We got a letter from Amaya.” Soren held up said letter, smiling weakly. 

“Really?” Callum gasped, twisting to his feet and jogging toward Soren, fully awake. “What’s it say?”

Soren just handed it to him. “No clue.” 

That got Callum to get a good look at Soren for the first time that day. Shadowed, heavy eyes, shoulders slumped, entire posture defeated. “...You should... get a nap?” Callum suggested, not entirely sure what to do for his former trainer. 

“...Yeah. Maybe.” Soren sighed, then turned and headed down the steps again, disappearing down the mountain’s curve.

Callum didn’t call him back. Some days Soren was better than others. He was his normal self, joking and playful and confident. 

And then there was this weary, strung out stranger in his friend’s body. 

He broke the seal and opened the letter up, examining the contents of her smooth, effortless handwriting. She did have seamless penmanship, words flowing easily across the page.

As he read though, his confusion only increased, making him jog down the steps toward where the chamber, where Zubeia was resting after a hunt. 

It was quite pleasant in the garden-like private chamber of the mountain, with a warm and humid atmosphere that wreathed specifically in the domed section carved from rock. Callum had probably asked her a thousand questions about the cave when she first decided to speak to him, but now he had settled down to... significantly less.

Still studying the letter, he turned the corner toward her chamber, intending to find Ibis before going to speak with the Dragon Queen. 

Which was when he got bowled over by something that shouldn’t’ve been pouncing on the much more delicate humans anymore. 

“Oh! Hey Zym!” He laughed breathlessly as the little dragon stood overtop of him with a triumphant trill. “You’re getting too big for that.” The wheeze that followed his laughter was a little loud as he playfully shoved the dragon’s head. 

Zym purred loudly as he hopped off Callum, then bounded toward the chamber once more. 

Getting back up, he walked toward the chamber with a sigh and a shake of his head, holding the letter carefully. 

Ibis was, fortunately, sitting on the steps near Zubeia and speaking quietly to her. 

“Oh good, you’re here.” Callum said, then sat down on the steps and held up the letter. “So, my aunt sent us a letter, and apparently, there was an attack on an Earthblood elf settlement.”

Ibis interrupted with a soft gasp. “Are they alright?”

“Everyone’s fine, but...” He sighed. “She said they were attacked by a dragon outside of Lux Aurea. A young one.”

That got Zubeia to glance at him with a slightly offended, confused glare. “Dragons don’t attack elves.” She rumbled, almost dismissively. 

Callum hesitated after that, but then Ibis nodded for him to continue. 

“She describes it as looking like Pyrrah, the Sun dragon, lots of horns and very sharp wings. Only about... five feet tall, she estimated.” 

Ibis nodded, eyebrows furrowed in a considerate glare. “Does she say five feet to where?”

“The head.” Callum stated.

That got the elf to glance to Zubeia again. “Older than Zym, then.” 

Zubeia huffed. “...Unless the Sun dragons have gone through a season while I was asleep and they are growing faster than should be possible, there is no way for this dragon to exist.” The growl was intense, but... not quite as dismissive. But she had said that it was a dragon. She was studying Callum intensely, who was trying not to squirm as he continued. 

“Uh... she says it’s black but shiny, like tar.” Callum cocked his head. “With orange eyes, and that it has... spikes, down it’s back. Sharp spikes.” He shrugged a bit. 

This time, Zubeia glanced to the side, head tipping a tiny bit. “...did she mention if it breathed fire?” 

“She says it did, that’s how she knew it was a dragon, but it was really strange fire. Black and orange fire, burned kinda purple-blue with orange.” Callum read off, then looked up to the utter confusion on Zubeia’s face. 

“...I’ve never seen a black dragon.” Her voice was low and dark, almost cold. “No dragon is ever coloured pure black.”

Callum nodded. “My aunt isn’t gonna lie.” He said quietly. “...If she said the dragon was black, it was black,” He stated, nodding to Ibis and silently hoping that Zubeia didn’t take offence. 

Her head rose up, eyes flicking to the side considerately. She made a slow rumble, almost a groan of indecision. “...I will go with you.” Her voice was loud and determined. 

“_What_?” Ibis and Callum said at the same time. 

“You, as the Dragonguard, are tasked to guard the ruling dragons.” Zubeia growled, sitting up slowly, her chest coming off the ground with a grunt. “I am going to Lux Aurea. You, will follow.” She chuckled a bit, shaking her head out like a strong old hunting dog. 

“Uh...” A new voice joined them, Rayla standing in the entrance, Zym at her side. “What’s goin’ on?”

“We are going to Lux Aurea, to investigate a young dragon that attacked Earthblood elves.” Zubeia cooed, tapping her claws on the stone. “It is a young dragon.” She stated with a sigh. “They will fight if they are scared, but they don’t attack at random. This is a young dragon, and they are scared, and I... I will not allow them to...” Her head dipped slightly, glancing to Zym. 

His cocked in a silent question. 

“...I will not allow them to be afraid.” She stated. “Young dragons are shy. If they have no one to take care of them, they fight.” 

Callum winced a bit, feeling the bite of his own memories. Harrow had taken care of him, and he hadn’t fought, because he had no reason to. Zubeia was a mother, and she had the instinct for care. It made sense. 

Looking at the group, Rayla considered them all, then seemed to shrug with a hard nod. “We should head out soon, then.”

And just like that, she jogged off toward their rooms, clearly going to get packed. For a long moment, he just stared at where she had disappeared to, then Ibis chuckled. 

“Better get packed with her.” He smiled. “It seems we’re going to Lux Aurea.”

Callum grinned at Ibis, then turned and chased Rayla with a laugh. Did he ever love how completely, perfectly adaptable she could be... sometimes.

* * *

Seeing Zym take off effortlessly was not an unfamiliar thing. 

But seeing the lesser god that was Zubeia slide out of the cave with nothing but the ruffle of scales and leather, as light on her feet as a cat. 

Navy-purple scales gleamed in the sunlight, silvered fur smooth despite the wind that brushed it about her powerful neck, muscles shifting as she walked toward the area where Zym was pleasantly fluttering about, distant enough from the cliff enough that Zubeia could take off easily. 

“Get on my back.” She said coolly, glancing to the gathered guard. 

Ibis’ painted confusion was almost shock. “Your Majesty?”

“I do not feel like having to wait for you to remain caught up.” The amusement in her voice was reassuring. “I fly much faster than any of your small wings.”

Neither of the elves seemed particularly fond of the idea, probably some sort of elf honorific thing, but Callum was pretty confident that if she would take offence to it, she’d let them know. 

“Ok.” He shrugged, walking over to her as she lay her stomach on the cliff edge, climbing up her rough shoulder and spiked elbow as best as he could. It was a clumsy and sort of awkward thing, but he did make it up to the fur and spikes that lined her back. He was careful to sit against one so that he wouldn’t slide off. 

The power that rippled through her body when she moved was incredible, making him gasp slightly when she turned to look at the elves. “Well?” She purred out, sounding amused.

A few moments went by before Ibis and Rayla both carefully climbed up the dragon’s arm, up onto her back. Rayla sat near Callum with a wide, childlike grin. 

‘We’re on a dragon’ she mouthed to him excitedly.

With a laugh, Callum pulled her into a tight hug, watching as Zubeia guided her child onto her back as well. “We’ll arrive shortly.” She announced with a chuckle. “Keep yourselves well-held.”

Callum glanced to Ibis, noticing as he hunkered down, tight to her body, holding the fur beneath him in clenched fists. 

Her wings spread wide to either side, the glow of sunlight illuminating the small, lightning-like markings on the inner membranes, soft scales slipping slightly against each other.

And then she leaned forward, and Callum suddenly realized why Ibis was holding on so tight.

The initial drop put his stomach in his throat, blood roaring in his ears as he felt the wind rush past, clinging tight to Rayla’s hand and arm. Her own hands were tight on his, breath catching in her throat...

A wing beat and they cranked upward, forced to her spine for a long moment before she levelled off with a second beat. The third made them steady and unbelievably fast.

Callum could only hold on and breathe fast, staring as the wind threatened to blow him clean off. Only Zym seemed actively engaged, his head up tall to let the breeze blow his fur back. 

There was a moment before Callum sat up a tiny bit, glancing about with a smile. This was... really awesome.

Rayla finally relaxed next to him, head tipping into his shoulder as they both clung to her back. 

Regardless of how amazing it was, it was still very, very fast.

* * *

Landing was a whole other experience. 

Zubeia’s back feet hit the ground first, making her whole body jar slightly before she tipped forward, wings beating powerfully on either side of her lithe body, shoulders taking the brunt of the force but still jolting all of them on her back. 

Rather than coming to a dead stop, she ‘trotted’, working the speed off on a simple half-walk, huffing a bit. 

“It has... been a while since I have landed on flat ground.” She chuckled softly, then lowered her shoulders to the grassy planes on the outside of Lux Aurea. Zym shot off with a trill, landing near Zubeia’s face. 

The city, of course, had been easy to spot from the air, gleaming gold a gemstone in verdant green grasslands, making her double check where she was landing to avoid anyone’s farm.

Callum slid off her shoulder first, staring a bit as the full glory of Lux Aurea hit him. He had only seen the artful buildings of the Moonshadow elves once, and the Storm Spire had very minimal elven structures. 

This was a whole new experience. 

When Rayla caught his stunned stare, she laughed a bit. “Right. You’ve never been to Lux Aurea.” She commented, almost like she was being sarcastic.

He looked to her with a tip of his head. “You don’t like it?”

“Uh, Moonshadow elf?” Rolling her eyes, she gestured back to the shiny city. “It’s so bright in there.”

“Speaking of, I believe we have the Sun Knights coming to greet us.” Ibis stated, stepping up beside them as Zubeia straightened slightly and holding his arm out toward where several armoured knights rode... Cats, they looked like, but more than that. Very long-limbed cats with blue-tipped feathers that lined their bodies, but no wings. They were lead by the large tiger-beast he had met back at the battle, but still had... no name for.

When the group of seven or eight pulled to a halt and the leader slid off her mount, Callum gasped. “Aunt Amaya!” He grinned, not realizing she would come out to greet them.

She immediately hopped off the winged cat as he darted forward, pulling him into a tight hug. 

“How are you?” He asked as he caught Janai walking toward Zubeia’s face. 

She raised a hand - covered in deep red rather than normal blue - and signed, ‘I’m great. How’s life on the Spire?’ 

Callum laughed a bit. “It’s amazing! It’s really nice up there. Can get kinda cold, but it’s really nice! It’s awesome to fly off the cliff edge too.”

That got a bit of a worried-wary look, before she caught sight of Rayla, eyes narrowing slightly in a glare... before breaking into a smile. Rayla smiled back, happy that she didn’t need to fight anyone today.

“Good to see you again.” Rayla chuckled, offering a hand to shake. It was a human greeting, but as she had been teaching him elf etiquette, he had been doing the human version.

A strong smile this time as Amaya shook her hand, then glanced over to Janai, signing, ‘Are we ready?’

“I believe so.” Janai sighed a bit as she came close to the Dragonguard once more. “In the woods to the east of Lux Aurea, we had a group of Earthblood elf travellers.”

“Yes, Callum told me of the information in the letter.” Zubeia rumbled out, air thrumming with the noise. 

Janai glanced to Amaya before Janai continued. “That is good. We couldn’t get any blood or scales from the young dragon...”

She hesitated when Zubeia’s lip twitched, and Callum turned to give the queen a sympathetic look. She glanced to him, but then settled. 

“But we did get this.” Janai finished after she relaxed, and Amaya came forward with a square of pale green-brown cloth, folded neatly. 

Letting it unfurl, however, revealed the lines and markings in the fabric that painted it as though an emerald bush.

Except for the blackened holes that tore through the fabric, pieces hanging off the rest of the blanket-looking thing.

“What is...”

“This is what the young dragon blasted with his fire.” Janai explained darkly. “Our young sunholder in training noted that it was... not natural.” Holding it out to Callum, her eyes were narrowed and hard. 

The fabric was soft and nice, but... the blackened areas seemed so, stunningly strange. 

And then Zubeia brought her head close to Callum with narrowed eyes, sniffing at the fabric. He jumped a bit, but immediately offered her the burned substance. 

She inhaled deeply, considering it... before her lip curled. “It reeks of _death_.” Her tone dropped to dark, vicious notes. 

Callum, and everyone else, froze for a moment as she pulled her head back up. Briefly, Callum thought back to Sol Regem, still dutifully guarding the Moonstone path. They hadn’t yet bothered to contact him, not wanting... another incident. 

“...What do you mean, great queen?” Janai stepped forward a bit, trying to figure out what was going on. 

Zubeia appeared... slightly disturbed. Bothered, by the concept of whatever she had smelled. She didn’t look at any of them for a short moment, then finally, glanced back. 

“...It... the flames, they smell of dark magic.” Zubeia sighed softly, her head dropping a bit. “...You’re positive this was a dragon?”

“There were no humans.” Janai confirmed with a hard nod. “Not a single Earthblood elf said there was any magic or humans nearby.” She stated. “And no... anything of the forest revealed evidence of them, least of all dark magic.”

Zym made a whimper-noise, wary at his mother’s suspicion and dulled anger. 

“...Did you have anything else that the dragon may have... touched?” She asked, clearly wanting a scent of some kind further than the twisted amalgamation that the fire said it was.

Amaya glanced to Callum, eyebrows lifted for a moment. He didn’t get it. “Uh...”

She rolled her eyes with a smile. ‘I can’t read a dragon’s lips.’ 

“Oh! She asked if you had anything else the dragon may have touched.”

That, Amaya nodded to and darted back to the tiger beast. Then she stepped forward, holding up a wrapped item. She signed with one hand before removing the cloth in a flourish. ‘I used my shield to hold it down.’

“She says ‘I used my shield to hold it down.’” Callum explained to Zubeia as the great dragon lowered her head close to the warrior, examining the shield carefully. 

When Zubeia pulled her head up this time, her muzzle twisted a bit, she seemed no more pleased.

“...It smells of young dragon... and dark magic.”

Everyone went silent at that, eyes bitter and wary. 

Rayla’s hand slid into Callum’s, holding with a strange tension in her arm. He squeezed her fingers a bit, just reassurance to her. “It’ll be ok.” He whispered.

She nodded minutely, eyes hard as she squeezed back. 

* * *

“A baby dragon, infected by dark magic.” Rayla ranted to him, less than an hour later, in the darkest room the Sunfire could find for them. 

Callum thought it a very polite way to acknowledge the Moonshadow elf’s preferences, but he didn’t know how much Rayla appreciated it at the moment. After all, she was busy ranting about Zubeia’s hypothesis about what the young dragon was.

“Dark magic, Callum!” She shouted, breaking his thoughts. 

“Rayla, I know.” He said with a dark huff. He was still processing it himself, but he wasn’t doing it emotionally. Thinking to who would have the power to actually do such a thing was a good solution too. “...We never did find Viren’s body.” He stated.

Rayla froze, then whirled around. “You think he lived?”

“Maybe! Long enough for someone to heal him?” Shrugging, Callum stood up from the bed, pulling his stolen book of magic from the bag he had nearby. “There’s gotta be lots of healing spells using dark magic...”

She glared at him when he said that, and he just looked at her with a nervous laugh. “You’re not allowed to use them.”

“I won’t!” He said with a grin, cowed. But a few flipped pages, skimming their words, did locate a spell for healing. “Rehtona ot efil siht refsnart.” He murmured softly, glancing at the rune used to make it. 

A slender hand brushed the page near his own, tracing the words slowly. “...And what does it do?”

He hesitated a moment. “Well um...”

“Callum.”

“It transfers the life force out of one being, used to heal another.” 

Rayla groaned in frustration. “Is it one for one?”

Callum scanned the page again, looking over the information on the spell. “...No.”

There was a thud that caused him to look up, noting Rayla’s head resting against the opposite wall, one hand in a tight fist above her horns. 

Callum placed a hand on her back. 

“I could’ve stopped it.”

“Really, Rayla?” Callum asked in disbelief. “Because you did. You stopped Viren.”

“For a short while! Now he’s back, and apparently infecting a _baby_ dragon!” She hissed bitterly. “I’m a _Dragonguard_, Callum! How do you make this makes me feel? I didn’t do my duty!”

“If you didn’t, then neither did I.” Callum smiled sadly. 

She paused, then sighed, shoulders lowering. “...Damn you.”

“You love me.” Callum grinned. He knew she couldn’t blame him, so she couldn’t blame herself either.

And then arms tugged him into a hug. “I do.” Then she paused. “So how do we rescue him?”

“Well, we gotta find him first.” Callum responded, shutting the dark magic book quickly. 

Rayla’s head tipped up, considering something. “...I might know who can help us with that.”

* * *

_The Assassin with an Unsullied Heart._

* * *

Asking Queen Janai for where they had sent the group of Earthblood elves was sort of a daunting task. The Moonshadow had a sort of government, but not like the regency and regality of the Sunfire. 

Standing in the throne room was almost too bright for Rayla, nevermind the short, almost disapproving glares she received from stuffy court members, but that was relieved by the sight of Queen Janai on the throne and Amaya, sitting on one arm of it. 

To Rayla, it seemed so strange, almost disrespectful, to sit on one arm of the throne while signing to the queen, but the ease they had and the fact that nobody even blinked twice said that this was perfectly normal. 

“Queen Janai.” Rayla greeted with a soft nod, dropping to one knee in a bow. Callum was much smoother in his kneel, but didn’t say anything to her. 

Janai nodded to them, and they both stood up quickly. “What can I help you with, Dragonguard Rayla?” She asked coolly, eyes narrowed, but Rayla could see the tiny little twitches of her finger and in the corner of her lip.

“We...” Looking to Callum, she silently wished that he could speak instead. He seemed more fit for it. “We wish to request information on where the Earthblood elf settlement has gone.”

Amaya tipped her head, then signed something, her ankles crossed a bit.

“Because we’d like to locate the young, infected dragon. Rayla tells me that Earthblood elves are superior trackers, and she knows one who can help us.” Callum replied to Amaya. “If the Earthblood elves can lead us to the dragon, then we can maybe find whoever’s infected it.”

Rayla nodded to Janai again. “What he said.” She laughed warily. 

Janai paused, considering, before nodding slowly. “...Yes. That would be an effective method.” She stated, almost like she had no idea what to actually say.

There was a long pause as Janai seemed to just stare at them, and they back, and Rayla was starting to get seriously uncomfortable.

Before Amaya shoved Janai’s shoulder and stood up, signing something in rapid motions as she headed down the steps toward them. Janai was quick to get up and follow. 

“Thank you very much.” Callum said, then followed her down the hall without a pause. 

Rayla immediately darted after them, entering what was obviously the military planning room. 

“I apologize...” Janai groaned to them. “I am not very good when it comes to... ruling.”

Amaya signed something to her, then lay a hand on her shoulder. It got Janai to smile a bit though. 

“Alright.” The queen said, and suddenly, Janai looked much more comfortable as she gestured to the artfully carved table before her. It mapped the topography over a painted area, landmarks set at what was probably their perfect locations. “The Earthblood elf settlement is a few hour’s journey to the east.” She pointed to a spot near the river. “It wouldn’t take long with a proper mount.”

Amaya grinned, then signed something rapidly at Janai.

Callum, meanwhile, blinked in confusion. “Who’s Mattie?”

At that, Amaya grinned and patted her leg twice.

The Twin Tailed Tiger bounded over, his tails flicking powerfully as he slid right up to her side, purring and nuzzling against her side, scratching himself on her armour.

She ruffed his neck like he was a Shadowpaw, who were less than half the size, but seemed perfectly pleased with this situation. 

Callum grinned with the appearance of the the beast, but Rayla stepped back carefully, not wanting to spook the creature into examining her instead. After all, the tigers examined _purity_, and she really didn’t want to know how pure the tiger considered her. 

He seemed to ignore the possible danger, either through ignorance or straight up not caring, as humans were known to do. They seemed to have the uncanny talent of walking up to things that arguably should kill them, and not be even harmed. 

‘Mattie’, as Callum had mentioned, shied back from the boy with a growl, glaring a bit, but relaxing with Amaya’s petting. Rayla stepped forward just enough to pull Callum away, not wanting him to get mauled by something that much larger, just because he had cast dark magic once. 

“Yes, we can take Amatikatis,” Janai began, but Amaya signed something in the middle, prompting her to give the human a glare. “but the other two will need mounts as well. Feathered Sun-Painted Cats are swift and easy to ride.”

Internally, Rayla groaned. They didn’t have time to get a nice, pleasant Shadowpaw here, so she was stuck riding on one of the most fiery and vicious mounts on the planet. 

“Awesome! More magic creatures!” Callum said, completely excited. 

Glancing to him, she took in his signing with his aunt, his excited eyes and smile. 

Four months on the Storm Spire had been almost too long to stay cooped up, and Callum’s desire to explore Xadia hadn’t yet been fulfilled. Besides, who could say no to that face?

* * *

It only took them a few days to gather a group of soldiers and head toward the settlement, with Callum much more comfortable on the Feathered Sun-Painted Cat he sat on. Hers kept glaring at her, maybe the displeasure of smelling Dragon all over her, or the fact that she was a Moonshadow elf. 

Callum was up near Amatikatis, signing something to Amaya. When she replied, he slumped a bit with a sigh. Urging her Cat forward, she caught up to them quickly. “What’s wrong?”

“Just... News that Amaya got from Katolis.” Callum murmured with a shake of his head. “Not... It’s not great.”

Looking between Amaya and Callum, she tried to process if that meant anything had happened to _Ezran_. “What happened?” 

“Well, Neolandia, Del Bar and Evenere aren’t even talking to Katolis, and they’re mad.” He muttered. When Amaya signed something, Callum translated. “‘There’s been talk of war among the nobles, and there is rumour that the Pentarchy is disbanded’.”

“...Is Ezran ok?” She asked, not caring about anyone but Ez.

“He’s doing well, a just king, as far as I’ve heard.” Janai jumped in. 

Callum nodded. “We knew he was going to be a great king. His one loss is that most of Katolis’ army is... lava people. He’s got one advantage though.” He sighed sadly, then glanced forward with a sort of dark smirk, the kind that privately scared Rayla. All humans could make that face, the angry and pleased smirk of someone who’s seeing an impending revenge. “The other three kingdoms can’t challenge them without pissing off Duren, and Duren currently has the military might to smash all three of them.” 

Both Amaya and Callum made that face to each other, and then it was all smiles again as they headed through the woods without much more about war, not when they were looking their own risks in the face.

* * *

The Earthblood elves were an... interesting people, that much, Rayla knew with certainty. 

Deep green paint, much like the dark leaves of the nearby trees, formed into stripes that pointed upward from their jaws, toward their eyes rather than anywhere else. 

They were builders and craftsmen, not warriors like many of the other elf kingdoms, but they were well-connected to the land where they dwelled. 

And her friend Tarmor would always be the best animal hunter she ever knew, on only a scent or a few scratches on a tree near the Silvergrove. She just really, really hoped he was with this group of elves. 

“So, you’ve got a friend here?” Callum asked as he carefully slid from the Cat he was riding on.

“Probably.” Rayla shrugged with a chuckle. “If he’s not here specifically, then there’s gotta be someone here who can tell me where he is.”

The Earthblood elf camp was simple and small, exactly like most camps of the type, but she did recognize a few of the faces that nodded respectfully toward her, including-

“Woodwalker Elmis!” She called, darting forward and bowing a bit to the older elf. Her gnarled hands curled about a walking stick as she smiled. 

The end of the stick tapped the dirt. “You don’t need to bow, Dragonguard Rayla.” She chuckled. “Least of all to me. Perhaps I should be the one bowing.”

Rayla shot to her normal stance with a squeak. “U-uh, no ma’am. Just... being-“

“I’m making fun of you, Rayla.” Her eyes crinkled with a shake of her head before she glanced over to Janai. “Your Radiance.” She bowed slightly.

Janai also bowed slightly, respect from leader to leader. “Woodwalker. We come to seek a young elf named Tarmor.”

“Ah, Tar. Yes, he’s about.” Elmis rolled her eyes. “I believe he’s out hunting at the moment, but you are welcome to wait for him to return.” She paused then. “...Is this regarding that beast that attacked us?” She asked gently. 

She dipped her head slowly, an admission of honesty.

Elmis’ eyes narrowed darkly, but she said nothing more on that subject. “Come on in, they will be glad to see you again.”

They moved into the camp clearing, Callum’s eyes filled with the sights of the Earthblood elves’ unique tents and cooking utensils, she noticed a few others that she did recognize, giving them waves as she carefully guided her idiot human away from the magical fire. 

“That will burn you.”

“But it’s magic, Rayla!” He argued playfully, grinning at her a bit. 

“Rayla?”

Lean and short, his brown horns curled out behind his head while green and silver-grey markings lay across his cheeks, a unique aspect of his decor specifically. Rarely did Earthblood elves get silver markings, especially ones bright enough to show on his dark skin. His right arm wrap was thicker than the other. 

“Well, if it isn’t the best tracker in the elven world!” She grinned at him as he melted from the forest, carrying a small Gloweer buck. “Nice catch.”

He laughed, then walked further into the camp. “Thank the woods _you’re_ here.” Tarmor smiled widely. “Now I know this will get completely eaten.” And then his gaze fell on Callum, standing slightly behind her. “...and who’s this?”

There was a pause before Callum came forward and offered his hand to shake. “Oh, uh, I’m Callum! Trees to meet you!”

Rayla groaned at the facepalm, only for Tarmor to break into a massive grin. “Trees to me-“

“No, don’t even!” She burst out to interrupt, prompting both of them to laugh quite loudly. “Don’t encourage him.”

“He’s funny.” Tarmor grinned, then shook his head out. “What’s he doing here?”

Rayla huffed a bit. “This is Callum. He’s one of the humans who saved the Dragon Prince.”

The Earthblood elf stared a moment, then dipped his head slowly, respectfully. “I apologize. I was quite rude.”

“It’s... no big deal.” Callum said with a gentle shrug. 

Tarmor shook his head a bit. “It is, but I will accept that.” He smiled gently, and then nodded between them. “How can I help?”

“We need to find the creature that attacked you. And we need you to track it.” 

His face fell with a bitter, narrowed gaze. It looked harsh, a bit of a twisted anger, as if he was pissed at his own loss. “Good. Plan on killing it?”

Callum seemed to flinch beside her, and Rayla immediately burst with, “No!” She hissed. “It’s a baby dragon!”

“That was no dragon.” Tarmor growled darkly, laying the deer on the ground and pulling out his blade with a hard twitch. “That _thing_ was a dark magic spell.”

His shoulders were pulled up tight, his back tense and hard as he glared, and then Rayla realized. “...Tam, what happened?”

He slit the Gloweer’s belly with a sharp motion, almost too sharp for his regular, calm efficiency. “Nothing happened.” He grumbled darkly, flipping his blade around in his left hand. “We got chased out by a dark monster.” 

“But that’s not all.” Rayla murmured softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

He shoved her off briefly, then he cut around the edge of the Glowdeer’s pelvis. There was a quick motion as he tied off the part of the organ that he had pulled out and shoved it back in. “No.” He growled, rubbing his hands clean on a small cloth. Then he paused and dropped his head. 

Before he unwrapped the slightly swelled armguard, revealing the blackened, swelled veins that crossed and coated his arms, spreading away from massive teeth marks that sunk into his right limb. 

“Holy shit!” Callum gasped, staring. 

“It left me with _this_.” Tarmor snarled, staring at his arm. “...Poisoned, dark magic... Nothing the Mages do helps.” He murmured softly, tightening his fingers. “...They told me I’d lose my hand.”

“That’s why you were skinning with your left.” Realizing with a gasp, she gently reached over to comfort him. 

He shook his head gently, placing his good hand on Rayla’s. “I can use both, but... It’ll still be a jarring thing.” He murmured. 

Callum, meanwhile, was focused at the cuts with a studious expression. “...They’re definitely a...” He paused briefly, considering it. “Dark magic thing.” Then he glanced at Janai. “Uh, well... Amaya told me about the purifying ritual, she underwent. Maybe that could work?”

“The light thing they do with the Sunstone?” Rayla gasped. “By the stars, she survived?”

Callum shrugged. “Would that work?” He asked gently, staring at the holes in Tarmor’s arm. “I mean, I’d need to talk to a Sunfire mage, but it could work.”

Tarmor stared at the bites, then made a soft hum. “...Tell you what, you help me talk to scary Sunfire elf queen, and I’ll find your damn monster.”

There was a pause, and then Callum nodded. “My aunt’s her girlfriend.” He stated, then got up and walked toward Amaya confidently.

His mouth went wide, gesturing frantically between Amaya and Janai. “She’s dating a human?”

“She’s...” Rayla winced a bit, rubbing the back of her neck with a blush. “Not the only one.” Her tone shifted down a bit with a nervous grin.

Tarmor only had a second to process that, before spinning to stare at her with his jaw open wide. 

* * *

_The Boy with the Heart of Sky._

* * *

It took them a while to arrange everything. Traps, some of the strongest cats to head with them. Though once they had prepared, the cloth and Amaya’s shield were handed off. 

Tarmor’s gaze focused on the items held a predatory attitude, his eyes sharp and assessing, flicking over damaged and frayed strings.

“...Got it.” He murmured steadily. “I can use these as tracking materials. The tent as the preferred one.” Carefully, he picked it up and brought it to his face, sniffing it. 

While Callum couldn’t see what that was going to help, but he didn’t object. “Ok, so, how does this work?” He questioned, grinning a bit at the thought of watching a spell. 

There was a pause while the Earthblood elf glanced at him, then stood up with the cloth in hand. “Well, I need to speak to the Woodwalker first.” He said. “See if we have any extra material for an advanced spell.” With a gentle hum, Tarmor started toward the camp’s center.

The elf known as Woodwalker Elmis was tall and worn, with a wrinkled face and gnarle hands. Her skin was dry and darkened with an old tan, but her smile and eyes were gleaming and friendly. “Hello you three.” She hummed gently, still gripping to her cane. “How can I help?”

“Do we have Ambler feathers?” Tarmor asked with a determined nod, holding the fabric up a bit. “I need those.” 

“We have some.” Woodwalker Elmis dipped her head immediately. “I will get them.” Her stick tapped on the ground. “Anything else?”

“Adoraburr fur? And... Purified water.” 

Callum paused, taking a tiny step forward before he huffed and stepped back carefully. _That sounds a lot like a dark magic ritual._ He thought, averting his gaze as Elmis ducked inside her tent to locate the materials. 

It wasn’t long before they had the materials in a bowl, poured the water overtop. 

Carefully, Callum knelt beside him. “So... this is gonna be weird, but... is this... kind of like a... ritual?” He asked slowly. 

Rayla glanced at him sharp enough to feel the glare, but Tarmor shrugged carefully. “Well... I guess.” There was a pause as he dipped the fabric into the liquid, and seemed to realize something. “It’s not a method of... stealing life force, not like dark magic.” He reassured. 

“Oh, ok.” Callum gasped softly, head dipping slightly, smiling a bit at the reassurance.

There was a soft noise as Rayla shifted closer, “No, Earthblood elves use shed items to commune with nature!” 

“She’s right.” The cloth around a burned mark was thoroughly damp, holding it in his hands. “I don’t want to just find this beast, I want to make the forest help me find it.” He chuckled, then drew a sigil with his left hand and pressed his lips to the burned place. “Bestia, qui fecit hoc.”

The burn glowed bright green a moment, before it seemed to form into a liquid stream and fall to the ground, suffusing through the leaves and into the dirt.

He stood, glancing around, as a line of green gleamed under the leaf litter, tracing through tree roots as it shot through the forest.

“Wow.” Callum whispered, silently tracing the shape of the rune into his leg.

Then a hand shook his shoulder. “Let’s go!” Rayla said as Tarmor leapt onto his mount and shot into the woods. She followed immediately, leaving Callum to get onto his. 

Fortunately, Silkei (as the one soldier had said) was a perfectly amiable creature, bending to help him on and settling him in, before shooting off to catch up to the others.

She ducked a few trees just in time to swerve into line with Rayla’s cat, just behind Tarmor’s. “How far are we?” Rayla called forward.

“No idea.” The leading cat slowed a bit, coming closer to them. “The spell will give us an indicator before we get close, but... it’s still going strong.” Tarmor gestured with one hand, 

Callum just watched the green line trace the roots ahead of them, gleaming through the rotting leaves that covered the dirt and remained bright as they moved. It was a fascinating spell, but still a bit weird in it’s uncomfortable similarity to some dark spells that Callum knew. 

Tracking, as he soon discovered, wasn’t a short process. Even though they only stopped once, in the evening when they had to let the cats rest, it was still a long trail. 

Tarmor informed them it could be another day before they found anything, but they were still on the trail for it. The green was bright through the night, comforting in the unfamiliar forest to Callum especially. 

He knew what lurked in the human woods. Here, was so much different. 

When the sun rose and orange shimmered through the trees, Callum found that he was the first one up. 

It was odd, to look up through the leaves at the sky, rather than being surrounded in a dome of it like he normally was. Disorienting, really, but not a big deal. 

Just because the Spire was his favourite place to be now didn’t mean it was the only place to be. He wanted to visit his brother in Katolis soon, make sure he was doing well... 

But his place was here, with the Dragonguard, guarding dragons.

Like the little one that they continued tracking the instant that the others woke up, distance eaten up beneath the cats’ long strides, claws in dirt for better traction as they traced and followed and-

Callum’s chest slammed into the back of Silkei’s head as she abruptly pulled to a short stop behind Tarmor’s cat, grunting in a frustrated way as Callum shoved himself back down, so he was sitting on her back and not on her shoulders. “Sorry.” He told her with a sheepish grin.

She chuffed as Rayla and Tarmor started to creep forward, their heads low and noses working with hard, deep breaths.

The Earthblood elf pulled himself tight to his cat with a gasp, Rayla’s hand pulling Callum to match as they glanced through the underbrush.

“That’s bigger than your aunt described.” 

It was long. Probably tall enough to the shoulder to look Tarmor straight in the eyes without strain. Ebony scales that gleamed in the midday sun as it drank from the stream, sharp-edged muzzle coming out briefly to take a breath. 

Standing in the middle of a clearing, beautiful and clear, it was rather normal. Just a young dragon in the woods. Shimmery orange eyes flicked as it took another step forward, silent and still as it continued with the water.

Callum went to slide off the cat, only for Rayla to stop him. “What?” He whispered.

“Tracking’s first step is observation.” Tarmor murmured, voice as soft as the summer wind, seeming to glide through the trees. “...Now let’s get this thing. You two, be ready on my signal, just jump out at it.” He stated.

He nodded determinedly, wanting to ensure they got this... dragon.

It was so small compared to the older dragons, yet so big compared to Zym. Powerful, long, sharp...

And thin. Too thin for a young dragon, according to everything Callum had ever read. Even Zym still had some of his baby fat, enough to make him look cute as he got larger.

“What’s the signal?” He hissed to Rayla.

“It’ll sound like a bird’s trill. Just stay with me.” One hand gripped his wrist, holding to him firmly, sweetly.

Once again, they were risking their lives.

A few more long, slow minutes of dead, perfect silence before the barest twittering trill came out from the opposite end of the clearing, and the dragon’s head snapped upward, eyes flicking to focus on wherever it had come from. 

Rayla nodded, and the two shot out of the woods as she made a whooping shout, the dragon jumping as though surprised, only to land with it’s wings spread and claws at the ready, fangs exposed in a vicious snarl.

Originally, he had thought that staring down a baby dragon would be far less terrifying than facing down an adult one, but that didn’t hold out for long. Pyrrah had never been actively attacking him, but this one...

Rayla readied her blades as Callum drew the first rune, waiting for the young dragon’s charge. 

It took a stalking step forward, as though they couldn’t see it, eyes focused on them with an intensity that most creatures would never have a hope of matching, and _that_ was when it lunged.

“Aspiro!”

It flipped head over heels as the wind caught in its wings, sending it crashing to the dirt for barely a second while it flipped itself to standing, wings folding in tight as it spun back and roared, aiming for Callum next.

A short staff snagged it’s foot, cancelling the pounce as Callum tried to scramble back, eyes wide as the dragon twisted and got to its feet, snapping at Tarmor near it’s tail. Rayla’s quick tap with the handle of her blade convinced it to turn around before Tarmor slapped it with the staff again. 

Callum shot to his feet, the energy swirling through his blood as he drew the sigil and cast, “Aspiro!”

It was far more powerful this time, sending the little dragon spinning in a corkscrew, barely spreading it’s wings to keep from crashing painfully to the dirt. 

Not that the landing wasn’t hard, just that it was less than it could’ve been, wings out now and on guard while Tarmor spun what appeared to be a lasso on a long rope, whistling sharply. It’s head snapped up to the darker coloured elf, eyes narrowing to slits as he got into a stance. “Yeah, I’m the one you need to worry about...”

Rayla made a short gesture and Callum started circling to the dragon’s sides slowly. 

Which was when he caught the strange glint at the side of the scales. 

It wasn’t quite a colour he could put into words. Rainbow, shifting, but unbelievably dark, like a solar eclipse’s light. 

And then it’s jaws dropped open, the same glow building at the back of it’s throat. 

Callum had the rune out before he even knew what he was doing, the words leaving his mouth.

“Abstergo!” 

The wave of gleaming air that shot across the dragon’s face instantly made the glow die, a black sludge forming instead of the light, the creature scrambling back with a coughing, choking noise.

“What did you-“

“I don’t know!” Callum yelped. 

Whatever was coming out of the dragon wasn’t pleasant as it heaved up the dregs of tar-like substance to the grass, tongue hanging out as it panted and struggled with wheezing gasps, limbs shaking. 

“That was just a cancellation!”

Rayla stared at him. “Of a _dragon’s fire_?” 

“Ibis said it would work, but she didn’t say it would hurt anything!” He yelped. 

And then the dragon slumped to the ground, coughing softly as he lay flat, panting and pained as he squirmed away from them with a wailing cry. “Well, makes it easier.” Tarmor chuckled, slinging the lasso around the dragon’s neck. It made a long, panicked screech as Tarmor pulled it’s neck back. 

“Hey, hey! Don’t hurt it!” Rayla demanded instantly. 

The Earthblood elf gave her a skeptical glare. “C’mon, this thing’s gonna take my arm.” He grumbled darkly as the dragon tried to turn and bite him. He grabbed the top of it’s skull, rattling it as though a wolf puppy, then started wrapping the rope around it’s muzzle. “Let me rattle it a bit...”

“No.” Rayla growled darkly, putting a hand on Tarmor’s arm. “Just tie it up and let’s get moving.” 

The dragon kept huffing and snarling as Tarmor shoved away from her and started tying the beast up, keeping it’s paws well-bound while Callum helped Rayla build a pallet to drag the creature back to the base.

Until it sat up and screeched through it’s muzzle, and Callum shot back with a gasp as it’s eyes turned pitch, endless black, an empty sky. 

“Holy fucking-“

“BOY!” A roar came from nearby, as an _elf_ stepped from the woods. 

He looked like he had stepped out of a dusk sky, shrouded in the stars and blue-violets of the sun-set, western sky. Bright, brilliant, steady and powerful. He was exotic and beautifully unique, something Callum had never even seen before. 

For a brief moment, he could only stare in disbelief at the magical-looking elf standing across the thin stream from them stormed toward them with a hard expression.

And then he raised a glowing hand toward them, face twisted into a vicious glare.

“Shit!” Callum yelped as a beam of light impacted the ground while he and Rayla darted to the side, crashing to the dirt. 

“Are you-“

“Help Tarmor get the dragon loaded!” Callum shouted, shooting to his feet and drawing up a sigil as she shot toward the squirming dragon. “Fulminis!”

The elf shot out of the way of the powerful lightning blast, other hand gleaming with power. “Oriens astrum!” He snapped.

The glowing rocket that shot off his hand made an impact ring in Callum’s ears as he was launched to the side with the explosion, the world tilting crazily with the motion.

Pain exploded up his back as he was slammed into what he assumed was a tree, dropping to the ground with a groan. 

The dull, distant ringing in his ears was slow to clear as his hands dug into the dirt and leaves, struggling to sit up with a weak groan. His eyes caught Rayla’s blades spread to guard Tarmor tying the dragon to the cat and go to take off, just as the elf raised his hand again. 

“Fulmin-“

“Abstergo!” Callum interrupted with a bark, making the magic fizzle in the elf’s palm with a hiss. 

There wasn’t even a pause as he whirled about and swept out an arm. 

Like being hit with a horse, Callum felt himself tossed to the side with a groan. As much as he had improved with magic over time, he was outgunned and outclassed. 

“Ah...”

“You, are a fool.” The elf snarled darkly while Rayla charged him with a furious roar.

Callum shot to his feet as she moved. “Rayla no!”

This time, there was the distinct smell of ozone and ash in the air as the elf raised his hand and shoved it toward the ground, the backlash of energy tossing Rayla away.

She, fortunately, landed on her feet. Callum did not.

“Callum!”

“Get moving!” He cried to her as he dodged the next spell launched his way. “I’ll be fine!” 

She took a half-aborted step in his direction before freezing when the elf spun toward her, and her cat swooped in for rescue. “You better not-“

Callum threw up his arms as the tree next to her exploded in a wash of blue, splinters cutting through his jacket and arms as the impact slammed him to the ground again, gasping with the hit. 

He caught a glimpse of Rayla’s cat, well out of the blast radius with her on it’s back, urging Tarmor to move as she kept glancing back to him.

Gesturing to them again, a frantic sweep of his hand to _move_, to get fucking _going_, before anything else happened and the elf started casting spells again. He drew out the rune and set his jaw, ready to move. “Aspiro frigis!”

“Abstergo!” The elf growled, and that was about the _worst_ sensation in the world.

His arm lit into icy shards that crawled through his veins, made his ribs, lungs and back spark in agonized bursts. The strangled squeak that came from his throat didn’t sound like his own voice as he stumbled backward, gripping his left forearm before dropping to his knees. It was cold to the rest of his warm body, practically frostbitten with the backlash of magic. 

The mage approached steadily, stormy, star-coloured gaze fixed on Callum’s. “Never had it cast on you?” He guessed in a low, unhappy tone. “It isn’t a comfortable spell.”

“Nope...” Callum groaned, trying to rub warmth back into his limb as something large landed next to him, black-tipped orange paws guarding half of his body as he reached up with his right hand, other arm curled close to his chest. 

There was a pause, then the elf kept moving. “Where are you taking Praelore?” His voice was a low tone, an angry one.

Callum couldn’t help but stare in confusion at the name. “Who?”

And then he tightened his grip on Silkei’s thick mane, hoping he wasn’t breaking feathers, just as she spun. 

The simultaneous pull and twist was enough for him to slide onto her back, even one-armed, as she lunged into the woods. Flames roared through the trees on either side when the elf cast another spell.

“Go Silkei, run girl!” He kept a firm hold of the racing cat, knowing that fire wouldn’t hurt her, but he could still be singed.

She swerved to the side, uncomfortably close to the flames, before she kicked off a tree and jumped clean over the wall of fire, landing on the fresh, cool ground on the other side.

Two things became apparent to Callum as Silkei ran through the woods on fear-sparked paws. That the elf had cast spells from several Primal Sources... including some that he had never seen.

And that he had gotten his ass sorely, completely, and absolutely handed to him in that fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes Im headcannoning spells!!! Lemme do it!!!
> 
> thank christ i know latin
> 
> How did you guys think I handled the Earthblood elves??? I headcannon that they're vegetarians mostly, but there are a rare few who prefer meat. I'll get into more about Tarmor later (He's fun) but for now, we good. 
> 
> comments are my LIIIIFE


	3. Tact from Me is like Blood from a Stone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Timeless. Disconnect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hAH but I LIVED BTICH
> 
> Anyway, midterms week is over, you can assassinate me anytime lol
> 
> Song is Beekeeper by Keaton Henderson. Plz tell me I spelt it right

* * *

_ They may wish of my thoughts rarer, _

* * *

_ Food was a blessing, that much was very, very clear. _

_ Having to keep claws from piercing the scaleless skin of Shine, on the other hand, was not as much of a pleasant experience. Claw was feeding him, her talonless paws holding strips of meat above his head, but he kept his balance on Shine’s back limbs. _

_ “Very good dexterous control.” Shine purred, a tone in his voice like he had noticed something. “He has not hurt my legs at all.” _

_ “Kinda wish he would.” Claw gripe-growled as she pulled out another strip of meat. _

_ He took that one carefully, licking the last of the blood off her paws. _

_ “You’re adorable.” Claw rumbled with a happy tone, her fingers stroking down his neck comfortingly, even as he tried to look for more food. “No more!” _

_ That he understood, settling back on the dirt with a light purr. _ I understand! _ He tried to say, tried to mimic what they said... _

_ But he never sounded like they did. Not exactly. _

_ “Claudia..?” _

_ New voice! New voice with Claw’s name! Was this another nestmate? _

_ But the strange new being that emerged... _

_ It was pink-white, like Claw, but parts were sunk inward in greyed exhaustion. And the smell... _

_ Prey that had gone bad. Nothing good inside, empty and already consumed, nothing left but skin and bones, not good for eating. With a reedy growl, trying to sound scarier, he backed away, crouching near Shine’s leg. Shine had stood up, protectively moving to shield him without being asked. _

_ “Viren, why are you up? I told you to stay in bed.” Claw demanded, a low snarl rippling through her voice. _

_ “I heard... noises.” The empty-prey, hollow-prey, spoke. Its voice was much softer than Claw’s, or Shine’s. Weaker. And its gaze was locked onto his own. _

_ Claw moved in front with a low rumble. “And they aren’t any of your business.” _

_ “Claudia...” The responding rumble that Hollow made was hard and cold, making Claw cower slightly. _

_ He snarled loudly, even behind Shine’s leg, wanting Hollow away! No, it was not welcome here, in his family’s nest. _

_ “What in the _ stars _ is that?” It growled, awe and confusion and demand simultaneous. _

_ Which was when Claw seemed to realize that she was the dominant creature. Hollow was slumped slightly against the cave wall, breathing heavily, its paws hooked into the stone to keep itself upright. She was standing upright, stronger, her claws and teeth sharper. _

_ “None of your business.” She snapped in response, making Hollow pull its head back in surprise. _

_ Hollow’s fangless mouth opened, a look of abject shock on its face, before it turned toward Shine. “Aaravos?” _

_ A set of firm fingers landed on his head, stroking down between the growing horns. “...I apologize, Viren. You have no place in this.” _

_ Grey gaze snapping between them, Hollow growled. “You... _ played _ me.” It snarled at Shine. _

_ “Like the cheap child’s toy you are.” Shine responded with a smirk. _

_ Claw almost broke composure with a smile, but just made another firm huff at Hollow. “Back to the bed.” _

_ There was a brief moment where it looked like it would lunge for Shine, and then it’s gaze snapped to the floor, turning a bit away as it backed down. _

_ It backed away, head down, before turning and stumbling off, into the area of cave where he wasn’t allowed. _

_ Claw knelt down with a hard, long breath, taking his muzzle in her fingers. They shook slightly, as though she was afraid. That didn’t sound right though, as Claw... she couldn’t get scared, could she? She was big and powerful, her mate was powerful as well! Hollow had no foothold to their nest and territory. _

_ Dropping next to her, Shine lay a paw on Claw’s shoulders as she stroked and rubbed at his face and neck, her short muzzle and head lying on his own as he purred worriedly at her. “Are you certain you wish to preform the growth spell today?” _

_ “Yes.” Claw responded instantly, her body tightening a bit, blunt claws tightening on his scales. “...Yes, I do. C’mon.” She murmured as she got to her feet, keeping one hand on his head. _

_ He made a soft purr to her, trying to be reassuring, even as she led them off, into the woods beyond. _

_ Sometimes, when they went into the woods, it was to let him pounce on the creatures there. _

_ Sometimes they helped him eat them, helped him swallow the soft strips of meat, let him settle down and wait for them. _

_ But this time, they went to a clearing. With prey, pinned down already. He lunged with an excited bark. _

_ Shine’s sharp whistle of order brought him up short, screeching to a halt just a tail length from the squirming prey. He could smell their youth, as fresh and young as himself, claws kneading the floor as he waited for Shine to say something more. _

_ Claw was the one to call him though, settling him in the middle of the clearing with a pile of straw, facing away from the prey. “Here we go. Stay here.” _

_ He did indeed, Shine’s hand holding his jaw a bit, petting his head. “We will be done soon, Praelore.” With a confused purr, he tried to ask what was going on as a bright light started from just behind him. When he went to turn, Shine held him still. “Right here, Praelore.” _

_ A wary purr started low in his throat, but he trusted them. He did. _

_ “Nwo rouy worg, ecrof efil sith ekat!” _

_ And then warmth and light spread through his bones. _

* * *

_The Human who Flew_

* * *

His arm ached and twinged whenever he moved, but the stabbing pain had gone back to something more reasonable, no longer an agonized slash that lanced through his upper back.

“You sure you’re feeling ok?” Rayla asked for the sixth time as she tried to rub heat back into his arm.

“It aches a bit.” He shrugged as she lay it back in the sling that Tarmor had made. “But it’s not... bad.” The gentle murmur seemed to settle her mildly.

Tarmor was adjusting the ropes about the young dragon, lashed to the pallet behind his cat. “Well, you aren’t shivering anymore at least.”

“Yeah.” Callum mumbled, stretching his hand out and tightening it into a fist. “How’s the dragon doing?”

It made a terrifying snarl that Callum had never heard out of a dragon before this one, but it ended in a breathless hiss as it’s claws uselessly flicked to try and reach the ropes.

“He’s good and tight.” Tarmor’s chuckle was almost bitterly pleased. “Not goin’ anywhere.”

They all paused a moment before Rayla sighed, “The physical state, Tar.”

That made him wince a bit, almost like he was angry at something. He lay the pads of his fingers on the dragon’s heaving throat, it’s amber eyes focused on his hand as he moved. “Hey there, little one. You gotta relax.” He murmured to it.

It squirmed again, making a sharp, huffing groan as it tried to pull away from Tarmor’s hand, sheer, raw terror in it’s eyes. 

“Is it...” 

Tarmor removed his hand and stepped backward, the dragon’s frantic pulling relaxing slightly with that. “It’s heart is just... really fast. Too fast.” He murmured. “It’s really scared of us.” 

Standing, Rayla nodded sharply. “Then let’s hope Zubeia can fix that.”

“She can.” Callum replied instantly, a firm dip of his head going with it. “I know she can. It can be helped.”

* * *

Rayla was sent ahead to inform the group of Earthblood elves that they had the dragon with them while Tarmor and Callum stayed with it, in case the Woodwalker Elmis didn’t want it anywhere near the campsite. 

“Callum, c’mere.” 

His head snapped up when called, from where he was tracing the one and only rune he had seen the older elf make. “Yeah?”

“I need your help. We have to feed it.” Tarmor said from where he was removing what looked like jerky from his pack. 

_And that means we have to untie it._ Callum realized grimly, hand tensing on the pencil in his grip. “...What do you want me to do?” 

“Well, you want the, ‘keep it from blasting fire’ job or the ‘get fingers close to teeth’ job?” The elf started slowly untying the rope muzzle he had made for the dragon. “Because neither of us have got both hands fully functional.”

Closing his book, Callum walked over to the dragon, watching as its eyes flicked nervously between both of them, chest heaving and neck tensing as it tried to wrench it’s head off the pallet. 

“I’ll take the ‘get fingers’ job.” 

Tarmor rolled his eyes a bit as he nodded to the bag of jerky by his side. “Get that then. Let’s see if he’ll even eat a bit.”

The jerky was... soft, compared to what Callum was used to, but it smelled like Moonberries and a salt he couldn’t identify. “Alright...”

Carefully, Tarmor removed his hand from the dragon’s jaw, letting it pull it’s mouth open slowly.

The energy charge started instantly, and he slapped it shut again, cutting off the blast. 

“No.” The order was hard and clear as Tarmor shook the young dragon again, then slowly let him go. It was less than a second before the charge started again, and Tarmor slammed the little dragon’s jaw shut once more. 

For almost half an hour, they continued on that movement, with Tarmor repeatedly letting the dragon open and shut it’s mouth. He let it stay free as long as it didn’t start charging fire, so it stayed watching him for a while longer each time. 

Eventually, though, it seemed to tire. When Tarmor let it go, it didn’t even take aim at Callum, laying still and calm. “...See if it’ll take food now.” 

Callum took the chunk of jerky and carefully held it near the dragon’s free muzzle, trying not to focus on the sharpness of it’s teeth or the width of it’s jaw. It’s eyes met his, desperate in a way, like it needed to know if he was going to kill it. 

And then it finally eased closer to the jerky, nostrils flaring to take a deep breath of what it had in front of it. 

The fang-filled maw opened slightly, a _whuff_ of oddly cold air washing over Callum’s hand as the dragon breathed. “You’re cold.” He murmured to it while it carefully sniffed at the jerky, suspicious and uncertain. 

It stretched forward a bit, the tip of its muzzle catching the jerky in firm teeth before pulling it from Callum’s hand. The terrifying teeth never even came close to his fingers, as though the dragon knew how to eat from a human’s palm without ever hurting them. 

“Good...” Tarmor murmured, stroking a hand down it’s neck. “Good boy.”

Quickly grabbing another piece, Callum held it out to the dragon, who took that piece much faster as Tarmor petted it. 

A little bit later, they had an empty bag of jerky and a relatively calm-looking dragon, oddly familiar eyes sliding between them with much less fear. Tarmor tied the muzzle back on gently, not letting the dragon escape, but also not too much as to make it force the creature to bite its own lips. 

Tarmor tied its neck fully back down to the pallet and then dropped to the dirt with a sigh. “Damn.” 

“That worked.” A laugh bubbled up through Callum’s throat almost without permission, shaking his head as he watched the dragon’s eyes shut, seeming to go into a more restful state. 

Another soft laugh came from Tarmor as well, a similar air of disbelief in his tone. “It did work.” He commented, shaking his head gently. 

When Rayla stepped back into the clearing, followed by Janai and Amaya, the dragon came back to awareness quickly, tail flicking in panic as he tried to pull away from the bindings again. 

“Back up!” Tarmor hissed, gesturing them away quickly, “Callum, stay!” With that, they turned and darted into the woods, leaving the dragon to relax a bit. 

Almost against his will, one hand came up to gently touch it’s neck, before he froze an inch from it’s scales. “...I’m really sorry.” He murmured sadly. “I can’t understand you like my brother can.” Sighing, he lay his hand on the dragon’s neck, stroking down the scales that twitched as hard muscle underneath them tensed. He was thin, but powerful in each subtle motion. “I know you’re scared, but... We’re gonna figure out who did this to you. And how we can fix it, ok?”

The dragon was staring at him with a strangely serious gaze. Almost like it knew exactly what he was saying. 

“...No idea if you can understand me.” Callum said to it with a soft chuckle, shaking his head. “But I’ll... It’s ok.” He smiled gently, trying to be reassuring. 

Then Rayla stepped through the bushes. “We can’t head back to the camp. They don’t want it there.” She grumbled, walking over to her cat. “Tarmor’s coming to Lux Aurea, to keep it safe and stable.”

“As well as fixing his arm.” Janai’s low, rumbling voice came through as she walked into the clearing, the dragon instantly bucking with her appearance. She glared at it, as did Amaya, when they came closer. “He cannot move, correct?”

“No ma’am.” Patting the ropes that kept the dragon still, Tarmor smiled a tiny bit, a combination of satisfaction and settling. “It’s not going anywhere.”

A finger tapped his shoulder, prompting him to turn a bit as Amaya signed, ‘This is the one. I wish we didn’t have to tie him like this.’

‘It’s a he?’ At her nod, Callum continued. ‘We won’t leave him like this for long.’ He replied gently, giving the dragon a pitying look. ‘Once we’re in Lux Aurea, he can have a bit more freedom.’

She nodded, then walked up to the little dragon carefully, kneeling near his head as Janai walked over to Callum. “Rayla mentioned that... you fought with a Startouch elf mage.” She said, voice low and threatening, a thunderstorm on a sunny day. 

“_That’s_ what he was!?” Callum gasped, remembering the yellow eyes, the twist of anger, the spells, so many spells all one after another in hard, fast cycles. And the pain of _whatever_ the elf had done.

The grunt that came out wasn’t pleased. “Startouch elves are extremely rare. They live much longer than most of us, and have a connection to the Star arcanum... which is dangerous.”

“Why is that?” 

Janai paused, glancing at the dragon, gaze scanning up it’s wings. It was then that Callum noticed the strange, glimmering dusted line on the wing’s edge, sharp and bright. Then she sighed, and gestured to the woods. “Walk with me.”

He only paused for a moment before following her with a nod. “What’s...”

“You know of the different Primal Sources, and you are aware of arcanum.” She said. “...But do you know what each Source truly means?” Janai glanced to him. 

Callum shrugged. “It identifies what types of spells a person can preform.”

“It does.” She nodded, staring up briefly. “...But each one has a meaning. Sun, for example... is fire, heat, and light, yes. But it is purity. It is love that is all-consuming.” Her head dropped a bit, staring at the ground. “...My sister could have told you about this much better than I can. I am not a scholar.” She chuckled faintly. 

“It’s ok.” With a shrug, Callum sidestepped a twisted root, smooth surface practically gleaming in the dappled sunlight of the woods. “I haven’t gotten to read as much as I want on magic.”

“Star though, some rumour that... that dark magic began as an extension of the Star and Earth sources.” Her voice dropped to a furious growl, then she glanced away. 

“An _extension_?” Callum asked, eyes wide. 

“Used for... _touching_ life force.” She spat. “And then used for healing of land. Star magic is timeless, unbound. It works in the future and past.” 

Callum appreciated how she was speaking. She wasn’t even mentioning humans in her discussion, which he was certain she did for his benefit. “...So, elves could use dark magic?” He asked softly. 

That made her turn a bit. “As far as I know... no elf ever has.” She sighed. 

A pause as they stood in the open space between trees, Janai holding her hand out as if to catch a beam of light that fell to the grass. 

“...You think that the purifying ritual could help Tarmor, though?” 

Her eyes flicked over to him, a dark expression overtaking her face. “...I think it will.” She admitted. “...But without knowing much about magic, using it on the dragon?”

“Yeah?”

“I believe it would kill him.” She stated, staring at him with the intensity of a thousand suns. 

Callum’s eyes went wide, then he glanced at the ground, studying a strip of grass beneath his feet. His right hand prickled with the uncomfortable memory of some creature’s body part crushed in his palm, it’s blood seeping through his fingers and down his wrist before he cast, the wave of death and hell and pain that swept through him like a wave. 

Someone had taken a dragon, an innocent baby, and turned it into whatever the creature laying on the pallet was. 

Some part of him that still wanted humans to use magic felt like there was getting to be progressively less and less reason to defend human mages, even if all they wanted was to save their people. 

_ After all, they don’t just poison themselves anymore. _

* * *

Lux Aurea was a beacon in the night as they came close, light and fast in the nearly-full moonlight. 

Rayla was _loving_ the clear night, but the soldiers were nervous about the powerful beasts that hunted Sunfire creatures in the woods north and east of the grand city. 

The same woods they were in now. 

Fortunately, nothing ran out at them with moonlit fangs and threatened to take their lives. 

Callum’s hand felt as though asleep, a soft vibration running just under the skin. It was almost normal, but not quite. _I must’ve been about to put on a lot of energy._ He thought a bit, flexing his fingers. It ached a bit, but not too badly upon movement. 

He was still learning, as Ibis had explained, ‘relativity of output.’ However much energy you put in was proportional to how much you dispelled, and could make the spell more or less damaging, if it was an offensive spell. 

Casting four haymakers in a row would exhaust a poorly trained mage, so you had to play a bit on strengths and weaknesses. Output was often effected by emotions, like being terrified of getting blown up. 

He knew he’d have to ask Ibis when he got back to their room, to ensure this wasn’t something that would do more damage than it seemed. 

The cats all made screeching howls of pleasure as they came close to Lux Aurea, pleased to be close to home. Mattie, carrying Amaya and Janai, flew overhead, his lean wings keeping them relatively close to the ground. Like Phoe-Phoe didn’t enjoy flying during the day, he was certain that Mattie didn’t like flying in the middle of the night. 

Fortunately, the final stretch wasn’t that bad. The Feathered Sun-Painted Cats were fast and didn’t mind going all night, apparently. 

When the gates to the cat stables opened, Silkei didn’t even change direction, abruptly throwing her shoulders down and speeding up. “Whoa, whoa!” Callum yelped as she weaved between the others, an arrow streaking for the open door with a certain determination.

One of the other soldiers sped up as well, but he looked just as surprised as Callum when their cats went neck in neck, top speed for the doors.

Silkei slid in first by inches, tilting her body crazily and skidding on her claws for purchase as she darted down the hall and swerved into-

A stall, like the several dozen others along the very same wall.”

She instantly settled into the straw, grumbling at Callum to get off her. When a large, mitten-like paw smacked into his face, he took that as his order to get off the damn cat. “Ok, why this stall?” He asked her, only semi-rhetorically.

The other soldier popped his head up over the wall. “These two are the favourite stalls of the cats. We can’t figure out why.” He chuckled briefly before stepping out of the stall and sliding the door shut. 

Following his lead, Callum stepped out and closed the door, smiling a bit as Rayla’s cat darted past her into the next stall. “Damn fuckin’ sun-cat, don’t fuckin’ run off!” She yelped at hers, sounding more surprised than hurt. 

“You ok, Rayla?” Callum called with a grin. 

“I’m _fine_, stupid cat ran off...” She muttered as she came out, her hair covered in straw. “Fast little thing.”

“Like a Shadowpaw?” 

She chuckled as he brushed straw from her hair. “Shadowpaws aren’t that fast.” 

Shadowpaws were far more suited to stealth hunting, pack hunting, the midnight air where they lived.

Feathered Sun-Painted Cats were bigger, faster and stronger. And they had claws like Rayla’s blades, big and hooked. 

“Alright, well.” Tarmor’s voice came from the hall. “If you two don’t mind, I’ve got a fucked hand, so someone’s gonna need to give me some help.” 

The soldier from earlier came over, picking up the bar on the top part of the pallet with the dragon. “I’ll carry this.” He said calmly. “I can get my brother to help me, but you need to go to the medic.”

In the day and a half of travel, the infection had gotten worse than it had been in all the time before combined. 

Tarmor glanced at his bad arm, limp by his side. “...Yeah, ok.” He huffed darkly. “Anyone wanna tell me where that is?” 

Callum went to the other side of the soldier and helped pick up the dragon’s pallet, laying it across his shoulders and keeping a firm grip on it with his right hand. 

“You should go to the infirmary too.” Rayla said as they dragged the dragon out toward the cage they had prepared for it. A few smiths had crafted it with the same heat-resistant metal that made up the sheaths of Sunforged equipment. 

Shrugging with his left shoulder, Callum just smiled. “I’ll have Ibis check me out. It doesn’t hurt anymore, Rayla.”

“It hurt for just about two days!” She exclaimed, but then dropped her head. “_Right_ after the dragon is in his cage.”

“Promise.”

The cage, a burnished-brass colour, was a two step process. One, getting the pallet in, and two, getting him off the pallet without getting eaten. 

Part one was halted when they realized the pallet and dragon were a bit too wide for the original entrance they had planned on the young dragon staying in.

“...What if we pressed the pallet against the door, then opened the knots that are on the back here?” Callum suggested after a moment’s studying, noticing that Tarmor had tied it so all the knots were on the back of the pallet. 

The other soldiers nodded to that one, and carefully, they pushed the dragon through the doorway, held there by one soldier while Callum and another untied the dragon.

He started moving the instant that the first knot came off, starting at his tail. They knew his back legs were free when he started actively straining his upper body, a foot crashing against the bars of the cage with a furious growl noise. 

“Hurry!” One of the soldiers barked as Callum finished the knot that held his forelimbs and neck.

The kick against the pallet was strong enough for it to bump both Callum and the other soldier who helped untie knots to the floor. They were quick to scramble back as someone pulled the pallet away and shut the door at the same time, watching as the young dragon back-pedalled against the wall, scratching at the rope muzzle on his face. 

A sharp snapping noise told Callum that he had indeed, gotten it off, shaking his head out with his forelimbs spread and wings hooded behind him, eyes dark and angry, full of the same fire that he breathed. 

And then the energy charge did indeed come up, glowing purple underneath the solid, silvery dark grey, before he turned and unleashed the clinging black flames in the general direction of the soldiers. A hand gripped his shoulder and dragged him further away as Callum shielded his face from the heat dumping in the area.

When he finally pulled his head up, a fifteen foot semicircle of violet fire, cloying and dark on the grass, was evident. Burning the area in a clear limit of how far _exactly_ the little dragon’s reach was. 

“Holy shit.” Rayla gasped from where she was kneeling beside him, eyes wide and scared. 

The young dragon paced about the cage, roaring and snapping at anyone who came within the cage’s range. 

“Stay back.” Janai’s voice rang out from the side. “He can’t blast again for a few moments.”

Nodding, he shifted around and pulled up against Rayla, standing slowly. “We should go see Ibis while they handle him.” She murmured.

“...Yeah.” Callum agreed softly, letting her arm around his shoulders guide him toward the city, away from the dragon slamming himself against the cage bars.

* * *

Ibis’ thumbs dragged up the belly of Callum’s arm, making him hiss, then gasp as his head tipped back. It felt like someone was burrowing a hot line through his marrow, suffusing through the muscle and melting the ice that had lodged into his blood.

“Hol~y-“ He groaned out, eyes closing tightly before he snapped open again, hand clenching on the bed. 

“You put a lot of energy through this.” Ibis said gently. 

Callum couldn’t help the deep hiss as Ibis rubbed toward his elbow. “Y-yeah, yeah, I did, holy _Banther_ crap on a cracker.” 

“That doesn’t sound tasty.” The Skywing chuckled beside him.

“Didn’t mean for it to so_ound-!_” The yelp came out, pitching his voice up when Ibis dragged a hard push down toward his wrist. 

“You said the Startouch elf used Abstergo?”

Expecting Ibis’ question, Callum nodded. “And... several other spells I had never seen.” 

The Skywing elf’s eyes narrowed suspiciously at the admission, but he nodded. “Does your arm feel better?”

Callum tightened his hand into a fist, then flexed it up close to his chest. “Y-yeah. That’s way better.” He hummed, stretching out his fingers. “Thanks.” Sitting up as he continued to test his hand, Callum noticed how his teacher seemed deep in thought. “...Ibis, why did it... hurt like that.”

“You intended to cast Aspiro Frigis, correct?” At his nod, the Skywing continued, “Upon casting Abstergo, the energy you had already poured into the rune needed an outlet. Some sadistic mages wait for opponents to finish saying the words before they cast the reversal, simply to cause pain.” 

Memories of the fight flickered in the back of his mind, realizing that... he had.

“He did do that.” Callum whispered softly. 

“Hm...”

Callum rarely heard Ibis mad, but he sounded actually angry that time. “His eyes turned black. Like a dark mage.” He muttered softly. 

That got the Skywing to glance up, his eyes narrowing bitterly. “...You mentioned that the dragon did the same.” He stated. “...I’ll go do some research.”

“Can... I go?” He asked, keeping his tone gentle. “I think we have to report to Zubeia about the young dragon.”

“Oh, yes, of course.” Helping him up, Ibis smiled, former anger lost. “I’ll come with you. I do want to know how the search went.” He chuckled. 

Upon exiting the room, Callum almost slammed the door into Rayla as she intended to walk in herself. “Whoa!”

“Hey!” She yelped, stepping back. “...it’s ok, Callum. I’m fine.” Her tone was a little rattled, stressed. 

He pulled her into a hug quickly. “What’s going on?” 

Violet eyes traced to the side sadly, then back to his face. “...it’s Tar.” She mumbled darkly. “...he managed to take the purification pretty well, but right after that, the scabs burst and he lost a lot of blood. They think he’s going to be ok but...” Her head dropped a bit as Callum pulled her in for another hug. 

“He’s tough, Rayla. He’ll be fine.” Callum reassured, rubbing her shoulders. He didn’t know Tarmor well, and something about the Earthblood elf rubbed him the wrong way, but Rayla cared. So he did too.

She nodded, her hair rubbing slightly against his arms. “...How’s your hand?”

“Good as new.” Pulling away for a moment, he waggled his fingers. “Doesn’t even tingle anymore.”

Rayla rolled her eyes at that, shoving his shoulder. “Well, if you’re so good and not-tingly, we should get going.” 

He laughed as she turned, tugging him down the hallway with a grin. 

* * *

“...I smelled him when he first arrived.” Zubeia rumbled out, voice cold and angry. Most of the soldiers stepped back in fear, but Callum and Rayla stayed still at her side. It wouldn’t be the first time they had heard her anger. 

He reached a hand out gently, and patted her wrist. The triangular head snapped to stare at him immediately. “We can help him.” Callum reassured. 

“Can we?” The Queen Dragon asked in a hiss. “He, like my mate, is helpless in the face of dark magic, dark magic which has stolen everything he had as a hatchling!” 

Her tail curled around a napping Zym, who didn’t even flinch. 

“Yeah, it did.” Callum murmured, not argumentative, just an acknowledgement. 

“Humans! Damn them! How did a human know how to do this?!” Her voice came out as a near roar. “How did a human find an egg?!”

“It wasn’t a human!” Rayla barked in response. “It was an elf!”

That got her gaze to snap to Rayla instead. “_What_?” She breathed, shocked. 

“We... well... um...”

Ignoring the angry burning in his chest, Callum spoke up. “It was a Startouch Elf.” He stated. “The dragon’s eyes turned black, like he had cast a dark magic spell, and then the elf showed up.” 

“You believe the Startouch elf... did this?” A soldier spoke up, eyes wide. 

“What did he look like?” The question was oddly slow and quiet, bitter and hard. 

Callum considered that for a moment. “If you give me a bit, I can draw him.” He said quietly. He always had an issue describing people. 

The dragon considered that, and then nodded. “...His eyes were yellow, yes?” She asked anyway.

A pause, and then Callum dipped his head. 

Her gaze narrowed, storm-bright as though lightning sparked through her eyes. “...You do not need to draw him.” She growled deeply. “I know who Aaravos is.”

There was a long pause before she sighed at them, and pulled to her feet. “Aaravos?” Calling to her as she turned a bit and settled to her other side, he stepped closer to her head. “As in like, the Key of Aaravos?”

“As in the Archmage.” Zubeia rumbled, deep enough to shake the ground as her claws tensed into the dirt. “He should be in his-“ She cut off, mumbling to herself in what was probably her native dragon. Then she turned to them again. “Take me to him.”

“What?” 

“The young dragon.” She growled. “Take me to him.”

Callum glanced to Rayla, who just shrugged, and sighed. “...Can we see if we can feed him first?”

The great sky dragon tipped her head to the side, considering. “Yes, you may. If he does not eat, get me.”

With that, the two headed off, going to try and get said dragon fed. “We’ll send Ibis back to get you when we’re done!” 

“Alright.” Zubeia rumbled deeply as they walked off, the rush of wind on Callum’s back strong and sweet. 

He smiled gently as he pulled Rayla’s hand into his, walking back toward the young dragon’s cage.

* * *

For nearly an hour, they struggled to get the dragon to let them even within twenty feet of the cage. He would charge against the wall or spit flames if he could, claws slashing toward them, crashing into the metal bars.

“We have food!” Callum called, trying to offer him the meat. 

He turned and roared, snapping at Callum first, then spinning toward Rayla with a wail, his body ramming to the east wall.

The resounding clang of his horns on the bars made Callum wince, the dark body stumbling backward as he shook his head out rapidly. 

“That one rattled him.” Rayla’s motions were slow and light as she stepped onto the blackened strip of where flames had been blasted before. The line of death, as the soldiers had started jokingly called it.

Callum didn’t find it very funny. “Be careful!”

“He can’t blast more fire for a while yet.” The bold elf chuckled, coming right up to the cage with steady steps. The little dragon twisted and snapped at her, backing up frantically against the opposite wall. “Hey you...” She murmured to him gently, as Callum came closer as well. “You must be hungry, yeah?”

She held out her hand to Callum, who immediately passed her the meat. 

The dragon snarled at her, but she pushed the meat through the bars carefully, then got to her feet and walked away, leading Callum with her by the arm. 

Once they were safely out of the ‘line of death’, the dragon stepped forward, warily sniffing at the meat in front of him, before he sank teeth into the fresh food and snapped it up as though starved. 

Ibis nodded approvingly. “Excellent work... But it has been a while.” Then he turned and started toward Zubeia’s resting spot. “I believe we can get the queen now. Perhaps she will have an easier time.”

Callum couldn’t really disagree, not when the dragon was pacing his cage again, huffing and growling, once more not letting them in range. Now, though, he lay down, panting with one eye half-shut. That last impact had rattled him way more than it seemed. 

The grass was soft underneath his hands as he sat down, pulling out his sketchbook to draw the dragon, now laying still on the burned dirt of his cage, wings twitching slightly when he breathed, almost laboured in the action. 

A shadow crossed his page and he smiled slightly, glancing to Rayla as she watched him sketch, the horned skull forming out of paper and charcoal. The ash was just as black as his ebony scales, tough and long.

He wondered if the dragon knew what he was, or if he was just a shell.

* * *

_ The Bloodless Assassin _

* * *

Callum’s steady hands had the upper third of the body finished when Rayla first felt the thud of a footstep far bigger than any human’s coming toward them, head coming up from the page to look for the looming shape of Zubeia.

The shadow-coloured form appeared around the guard tower and wall of Lux Aurea, wings folded against her back and giving her an almost misshapen appearance.

Rayla grinned a bit as the great dragon turned the corner, her son hopping along ahead of her, Zym’s bright scales gleaming in the midday light. He was a beacon next to his mother’s subtle navy-violet, spreading out his wings and leaping into the air, evidently wanting to be the first there.

“Hey Zym!” Laughing, she reached out as he bunted into her hand, his tail whipping back and forth. It was kind of ridiculous how happy he was to be finally let nearby, his head shoving around her ribs with a wide-eyed purr. “What, you wanna see the other dragon?” She asked him.

He made an affirmative purr, scraping his jaw across her hip, arching up and pushing his neck and shoulders into her. It was a bit different now that he was older, so much heavier. Rayla actually had to brace against the push now.

“Azymondias!” The low rumble of Zubeia’s voice echoed across the plain, her tone steady and powerful. 

Which was when there was a low squeak, and a soft noise of metal on scales.

Turning, Rayla watched the new dragon as it pressed back against the opposite cage wall, amber eyes wide and afraid. Claws scraped the metal as his feet came half up on some of the bars in a desperate attempt to get as far away from Zubeia as he possibly could in the cage. 

“Hey, it’s ok...” Callum was trying to reassure him, but he sure didn’t want to be comforted. “She won’t hurt you.”

“Move aside, Callum.” Zubeia murmured as she came up to the cage, keeping Zym back with one paw. “...Do you know his name?” The question brought back up the issue that Rayla had considered once or twice, but hadn’t said.

“We... don’t.” Rayla sighed softly, head flicking the other way as she watched the dragon half-climb the wall, his chest swelling and dropping with rapid breathing and head low to the floor, pointed up at the other, adult dragon. 

They watched as Zubeia’s massive head slowly slid down toward the ground, her chin brushing the grass without disturbing the growing plants, a perfect awareness. “Hello little one.” She murmured, voice low and soft.

Ebony sides were quickly heaving, nostrils flared to absorb her scent, his wings flared slightly, guarding and afraid. He made no noise, no voice, no response to her words.

“My name is Zubeia, Queen of the Dragons.” She continued, no reaction to his complete and utter terror. “I am here to help you.” Her voice dropped a bit, trying to be a reassuring calm. 

She shifted forward, and the young dragon lunged at her with the determination of something quadruple his size, claws making a sharp impact on the metal before he scrambled back again. 

With all respect to Zubeia, she didn’t even flinch at the creature that lunged at her. The black dragon was about double the size of Zym, not enough to pose a threat but also not enough to be ignored. “Little one,” She murmured softly. “little one, can you tell me your name?”

He still didn’t speak, or whatever equivalent he had, pressed against the wall with a soft, fearful growl. 

“Little one, please.” She murmured, reaching a paw forward to the cage. “...I will not harm you. I can only help you if you speak to me.”

That got him to roar and bark furiously at her, half-charging the wall again, claws scraping the dirt. 

Zubeia pulled her head back slightly, blinking in confusion. “Pr-Prae... What?”

Zym made a squeaking noise, coming close to the other side as the other dragon made a harsh barking noise, voice low and rattling. 

“Praelore.” 

The name was strong and light, beautiful as if a song. Zubeia smiled softly, happy to finally get a word out of the smaller dragon. 

“You have a lovely name, Praelore.” 

Rayla watched as he froze in the cage, staring at them with shocked confusion. He made another soft noise, uncertain and wary. 

“It’s alright.” Zubeia continued, laying down a bit. “Who named you?”

There was a few moment’s silence before he made another nervous rumbling noise, his head tipping a bit to the side. His horns rattled lightly when he shook his head out. 

Now, Zubeia looked honestly confused. “Claw? Is that your mother?”

Coming closer, Rayla watched as he slowly started sinking to the ground, back claws not yet coming off the bars. He made a low noise, a cooler, quieter one. 

“And Shine?” Her voice was worried. “Your father?”

He made a rumbling mewl noise, one paw uncurling from the bar and landing on the ground, claws tapping a bit. 

“It’s alright.” Zubeia murmured, her tail flicking softly. “There is nothing to be afraid of.” She hummed. “We will not harm you.” 

Callum came closer with a smile. And Rayla darted ahead, determined to keep her stupid human from getting burned alive by the young dragon who was still pissed at them. ‘Praelore’ made another quiet noise, eyes flicking to meet Rayla’s.

“They will not either.” Zubeia murmured softly, eyes soft and sweet. “They are Callum and Rayla. They brought you here. Safely.” She chuckled. 

There was a pause, and then the other back leg dropped to the dirt, claws making soft gouges in the sand. A soft trill, and he leaned a little bit toward her, nostrils flared. 

Zubeia turned her head toward Rayla gently, nodding. “That is Rayla.” She was careful and slow, but patient. 

A five fingered hand touched the cage bars with a sort of raw wonder, making sharp eyes flick to the human. “Hey, you.” Callum murmured softly, tapping one finger on the bar. “I knew you weren’t scary.” 

“That is Callum.” Zubeia hummed, voice low and steady. 

Carefully, Praelore stalked closer to him, sniffing the human. Unique, entirely, from Zadia’s ambient smell. So long were they separated, that the Human Kingdoms had an entirely unique scent compared to Xadia. 

But while Rayla had found it relatively repulsive at first, the dragon showed no signs of being disgusted or even disturbed. She was certain that his nose was more sensitive than hers, but he didn’t seem to be bothered even slightly.

He turned then, and made a confused noise toward Zubeia.

A pause, then she spoke again. “What do you mean?”

Rayla watched as Praelore’s claws tensed on the ground in frustration, then he barked again. 

“...He smells like Claw?” Zubeia asked, soft and confirming. “Is Claw a human?” 

Rayla blinked, staring at Zubeia first, then Praelore.

That time, there was a bit of a pause, Praelore’s tail twitching slowly to the side, then tensed slightly as he backed away, snapping at Zubeia again. She pulled her head back and up a bit as he walked away, curling in the corner of the cage with a soft growl.

Zubeia pulled to her feet and turned, walking off slowly. “Follow.” Her tone rang through to Rayla and Callum. She swivelled about, heading toward the great dragon as they moved off.

“...Claw? His mother is a human?” Rayla hissed instantly, confusion writhing in her chest. _How did a human do this?_

Rubbing his face, Callum was clearly deep in thought as he considered the words. “There are... who would be able to even be able to use enough dark magic to _imbue_ a young dragon with it?”

“I know not.” Zubeia sighed darkly, claws scraping on the dirt slightly. “...the better question is, why.” 

“Oh, that’s simple.” 

Her head snapped to Callum at the dismissive words, cool and almost sad. 

With a stunted motion, Rayla gestured for him to continue. “What?” 

“Well, think about it.” He said, sitting on the ground. “There is a type of dragon for every Primal Source. Humans created dark magic so they’d feel part of the magic world, and now someone out there, this ‘Claw’,” He waved an arm in Praelore’s general direction. “has decided to make a dark dragon. To match the quote-unquote ‘dark Source.’” 

Zubeia made a soft, slightly angry growl noise. “...I... suppose, you’re correct...” The following exhale was a harsh, cold noise. “For that manner, then... Claw has succeeded.”

“The how is where it gets strange.” Nodding up to her, Callum settled down slightly as he rubbed his arm. “Back when I was in the castle, I did some reading on Dark Magic, and Ibis has been teaching me about arcanum and Sources.”

A soft glare marred her face as Rayla glared a bit at him, with Zubeia just the same. 

“Look, all I really discovered was that dark magic can’t cast Source-based magic spells. And you can’t transmute energy. Some people have multiple, but they can’t be... changed. For example, I can’t use my connection to the Sky arcanum to cast a Moon spell, it just doesn’t work. As for dark magic and Sourced-based spells, a dark mage can cast a vague approximation, in what I’ve started calling ‘corrupted magic.’” Callum explained, glancing between them with a confident, almost cold expression. “So, I don’t think that Praelore is a true... A true dark dragon. He might just be a corrupted one.” 

His gaze tracked up slightly to sky, just past Rayla’s right horn with a longing, sad expression. 

“But since he’s alive, I don’t know if we can fix it.” 

The shadow of the corrupted magic ball, the Sunfire elves’ sacred temple... It still hadn’t been cleansed. Four long months, and it was still a patchy ball of yellow, orange and eclipse black-red in a constantly swirling pattern. “...So you think that he’s not... truly a dark dragon, then?”

“I think he’s becoming one.” Callum returned, a wary look in his gaze. “I think he’s mostly there already, just... he hasn’t grown into it yet.” He murmured quietly. 

Thumb massaging the dip of her bicep, Rayla noted how Callum sat. The gaze she had been seeing more and more of in the past few months. Cold, distant in a way. Not focused on any specific, exact point, but concentrated all the same. He was... remarkably solid like this. 

“...and what do you think we do about that?” She questioned. 

Callum rubbed his neck gently, scraping up into his hair. “I’d... I can ask Ibis, if there’s a reading spell I can do. Something for me to tell how deep that dark energy goes.” He tipped his head down a bit. 

A rumbling hum came from Zubeia, arched high over the pair of them. “Do that.” She said, glancing at them with hard eyes, otherwise silent.

* * *

_ The human with the power of the world. _

* * *

“What can I use to read magic?” 

The question was a confusing one and Callum recognized that. After all, he didn’t really know what he was asking for either. 

“...What do you mean?” Ibis returned from where he was sitting on the edge of their guest house, watching the slowly setting sun. The edges of the navy night were slipping up behind them, but Callum didn’t turn to check what phase the moon was. He knew, without even looking, it was Waxing Gibbous. Having a Moonshadow elf for a girlfriend meant knowing the moon phases, _always_.

Callum paused, waved his hand a few times, and finally formulated, “The young dragon. Praelore. I want to know how deep his dark magic goes into his body.” 

The Skywing elf sat back with a sharp exhale, clearly calculating that. “You want to see his arcanum.” 

“Is... that a thing you can do?” Callum murmured, eyes wide. 

“Yes.” Ibis nodded. “But the spell is... not one I am capable of. And I doubt you are either.”

Tipping his head in confusion, Callum came and sat beside Ibis. It was easily a few dozen feet to the ground, but he held no fear. Despite frequently waking up in the middle of the night, the image of Rayla’s broken body at the base of a cliff burned into his retinas, he was no longer afraid, in any capacity, of falling. 

Hip hip hurray for sky magic. 

“Ibis, I’ve never met a spell I couldn’t cast, and-“

“It’s Star magic, Callum.” The decisive tone was cool and steady, obviously meant to silence this discussion. 

But Callum was never a man easily deterred. By anything. “Ok, what’s up with that? I’ve cast Moon magic before, now I just need to figure out Star magic, right?”

Ibis’ head snapped to stare at him, gaze wide in pure shock, as he said that. “You’ve... cast Moon magic?”

“I used it to look at what originally happened to Zym’s egg, with a moon opal.” He shrugged gently. The look of outright shock on the elf’s face was starting to screw with Callum a bit. “Um...”

“There’s... without a Primal stone, there’s minimal talk of someone casting magic outside their Arcanum, or with multiple Arcanum.” Stunned and confused, Ibis shook his head. “Even with some sort of conduit, like the opal. That’s why Dark mages can’t cast Primal magic, even with Primal entities.”

He blinked. 

Ok, he thought it had been a straight up fluke when he cast the moon magic, or at least caused by the moon opal. Or, literally anything else. 

_ So I did what. _

“Do you think you can cast a moon spell again?” Almost excited, Ibis turned to face him fully. “Wait, we will find a better spell to cast. Perhaps a simple invisibility spell.” 

“Wait, wait, I thought you said you couldn’t cast moon magic!”

“_I_ cannot. You, apparently, can.” Ibis replied coolly. “As well, not being able to cast Moon magic doesn’t mean I don’t know it.”

There was a long pause as Ibis darted off the roof and back into the building, before returning with a perfectly smooth river stone, rounded to a lovely circle by the flow of water. It was silvery-grey, as though made of metal, and cool to the touch. 

While the rock was in Callum's hand, Ibis nodded to his bag. "May I see your notebook?" 

"Uh, sure. Go ahead." 

A moment later, and a rounded rune - not unlike the Historia Viventem one - lay on his page, flowing and brilliant. 

“The word to cast is ‘Raptaque’.” Ibis murmured, showing Callum the rune. “You create the circle first, then the side lines, top to bottom.”

For a scary moment, Callum wrestled the sensation of fear and worry that came with doing something unfamiliar, anxiety drowning out the memory of how it felt to cast Historia Viventem. 

And then it hit him.

It wasn’t laying Rayla on a quiet, half-lit evening, when the moon was new and she wanted to sleep at night. It was staring up at the nearly-full moon, Rayla bouncing with unreleased adrenaline as the energy in the air lit her up with desire. The moon was silent and sweet and sleepy to him, but she felt the light, the call of the sweet night air. 

Sleeping in a room with her on a nearly-full-moon night was _wild_, because she didn’t sit still, she couldn’t. How could she, when the source of her Arcanum was staring her in the face?

Eyes shut, his fingers traced the lines of the rune easily, forming the base ring. He ignored Ibis’ sharp intake of breath, finishing the neat zig-zag that traced the one side of the circle, almost like a fancy ‘Q’, before inhaling and holding the stone in front of where he had put the rune, if it had worked. “...Raptaque.”

He felt the instant the moon crested the horizon, like all it’s energy washed over him in a cool glow, intensifying into a cold wind across his hand. 

“...by the Stars.” 

Callum opened his eyes.

His hand, and by extension the stone, were completely gone. 

“Holy _shi_-"

He just about fell off the roof when he jumped, staring at the space where his hand had been. Wait. Still was. Moving his fingers worked. Callum could still feel the stone, smooth and cool in his hands. 

When he finally noticed Ibis standing right next to him, holding his shoulder so he wouldn’t fall off the sloped roof and staring at his hand, he got the rest of his words back. “What the _fuck_.” He gasped softly. 

“It worked.” Ibis breathed, gently reaching out and touching his hand. Ibis’ fingers were warm, and Callum could feel the faint pressure, but there was no visual feedback. 

They stood in dead silence for a moment, just staring at the blank space of his hand. 

Callum glanced up at Ibis without a flinch, eyes wide. “...Ok. Cool.” He breathed, throat catching. “Can we...” 

“I will teach you the arcanum spell.” The older mage nodded, without hesitation. “I will also teach you to end this spell.”

“Oh ok, yay...”

* * *

“He is hungry.” Zubeia murmured as he approached, voice low and sad. 

It was a misty day, the overhanging moisture in the air heavy and almost exhaustive to breathe. Droplets clung to his clothes, to his face and hair. The air seemed to be making the Sunfire elves sluggish and lazy, and nobody was willing to spend a few hours in the woods. 

Aside from Zubeia of course. She still had Zym to feed, and he, now that he was getting actual meat like a proper dragon should, was eating nearly his body weight every day. 

When Callum spotted the snoozing form of Zym against Zubeia’s tail, tucked under the protective corner of her wing, he assumed that she wasn’t speaking about her son.

Praelore was curled against the far corner of his cage, trying to use one wing to cover himself up, keep warm in the cold, moisture-laden air. 

“I want to feed him, but... He will not allow me to.” Zubeia sighed softly, one foot scraping into the moist ground. 

With a soft nod, Callum walked close to the cage with a steady gaze, wanting to avoid a full confrontation, but also wanting to feed the baby dragon. “Praelore.” He called gently, reaching through the bars to rub the creature’s neck. 

Scales shifted under Callum’s hand as the dragon pulled upright, multicoloured eyes narrowing sharply on his face. 

“Hey, it’s ok.” Callum whispered, his hand going still on the corded, thin neck. “I am not gonna hurt you.” 

For the longest moment, the dragon just watched him, eyes flickering slightly, heartbeat thudding under Callum’s thumb... 

And then he slowly stroked down Praelore’s neck, the flutter of a tightened muscle under the scales like a flap of a wing against his hand. “That’s it...” He grinned softly, bringing his hand up to stroke down the neck again. “Good job.”

“You are very brave, Praelore.” Zubeia murmured, pulling her neck forward toward the cage. 

Callum nodded toward Zubeia, smiling a bit at the young dragon, petting him again. “This won’t hurt, ok Praelore?” He said, still rubbing the smooth-scaled neck. “It’s just so I can see your Arcanum. I just wanna know.” 

Multicoloured eyes flicked across Callum’s face while he settled a bit down, hunkered, waiting. 

He just raised a hand, took a deep breath, and held it for a long, considerate moment.

_ ”What will it feel like?” _

_ “...I am not sure. You will need to find that yourself.” _

He exhaled.

Imagination provided where experience lacked. Of stars on a new-moon night. Of an ink-black sky and thousands of white candles, of eternity. Of life and death, of beyond time. 

_Maybe that’s why Startouch elves live for so long_. He wondered, as he sought out the faintest sensation, the energy that didn’t find itself in the present. _Unbound from time._

When he felt the first thread of energy, the energy that felt present and not all at once, he took the faintest grasp he had, as tightly as he could.

Abruptly, there was no body anymore. No sensation. Not Zubeia’s firm gaze on his back (though he knew it was there), not Praelore’s faint breathing under his fingers (though he could still feel it). 

Dark, a ghost, floating, so far beyond the weight of Earth, he wasn’t sure if he could-

“Callum.”

He inhaled, eyes snapping open, and wrote the small sigil in the air with the same motion. It was bright, beautiful, white-blue in navy skies, a star in it’s own right. 

“Fateoranum.” 

The energy was... present. And... not, at the same time. Distant, behind, forward, around. Disconnected. He felt disconnected.

And then he saw it. 

A ball of energy, green and violet and black and blue and black and gold and green and black and _green and black and-_

Callum fell back with a ragged gasp, pain shooting through his eyes as they rapidly adjusted for the flashes of bright light that he was suddenly introduced to, (_wasn’t the sky just dark?_) sensations returning almost painfully. 

He squinted, groaning as he hauled in air, feeling like he had run a marathon. “What the hell-“

“Callum!” Rayla’s face came into view a few seconds of blinking later, directly over his head. 

“H-hey.” He gasped, one eye shutting as he tried to remember where he was and what was going on.

Which was an odd sensation. Normally he didn’t have to struggle to remember anything. 

Another voice caught his attention soon after though. “Callum, are you alright?”

Ibis’ concerned face appeared in his swimming gaze as well, blocking off a stunningly pleasant amount of the light. He really hoped that Ibis didn’t move. 

In the meantime, he remembered (that was still a really weird sensation) that Ibis had said something. It took a long moment to decipher, too long. “Y-yeah, that was...” He took a deep breath, considering that for a moment. “Please stay right there.” 

Their heads snapped up to stare at each other, then arms slid underneath his shoulders and knees, making Ibis move as Rayla stood, lifting Callum with firm arms.

A few months of hard training had made Rayla wonderfully strong, something which he appreciated a _lot_.

“Thanks, I guess.” Rayla muttered as they went under a golden archway, blocking off the light again. 

“...I said that out loud?”

She didn’t reply. But she did move faster. 

* * *

“I am _fine_, Rayla!” 

“You sat with your breath held for five minutes, Callum! And then you were sort of... fluttery when you came back. Like, mentally!” She returned with a glare. “Keep your ass _on_ that bed or I’ll keep it there for you!”

A Sunfire elf, the one who had been attending to him the last... well, the light outside said it had been an hour, but his perception of time was a little... screwed up.

“Well... this appears to be Arcanum Connection Illness.” The young mage-Doctor murmured, looking over a piece of paper. “But... I didn’t know that humans could-“

“He can.” Janai interrupted as she stepped inside. “But I thought you had already connected to your arcanum.”

“I did.” With a heavy exhale, he lay back, eyes sliding shut. “...But I think I connected to another one.”

“You didn’t connect to that one. Not fully.” Ibis interrupted easily. “You made contact with a source without connecting to it. Yet.” He said, sliding to his feet. “...Similar to your contact with the Moon source.”

With a firm nod, Rayla stepped a bit closer and lay a hand on his shoulder. “...So that’s three, now.” She murmured softly. 

Callum’s head dropped back, eyes sliding shut. “...Well. Alright then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Star magic huh???
> 
> We know next to nothing about most forms of magic so this whole fic is gonna be me fuckin with it. 
> 
> Comments are my whole ass existence

**Author's Note:**

> Heya, thanks for reading! If you like my work you can give me a nice comment, or if you want to send me stuff/chat you can email me at spyrofury767@gmail.com, or chat with me privately at Spiralled Fury#9254 on Discord!


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